Come join us to Kickoff the 40 year reunion celebration of the Minority Aide Program at Michigan State University. The Kickoff Celebration will take place on Friday, October 15th from 7:30pm – 11:30pm at the Lexington Hotel– Lansing. A historic 40 year reunion celebration is currently being planned for the September/October 2010 timeframe.

This will be an opportunity to reconnect with former Aides, and to see where the Program is today! In addition to all of this the goal is to start an endowment to support future Aide programming. We are seeking gifts to sponsor this historic event and proceeds will benefit the Office of Cultural and Academic Transitions Intersection Endowment.

The Office of Cultural and Academic Transitions Interactions Endowment is dedicated to impact on the MSU Community. The Office of Cultural and Academic Transitions Intersection Endowment supports creative and innovative initiatives that cultivate cooperation among different cultural student communities.

A historic 40 year reunion celebration is currently being planned for the September/October 2010 timeframe. This will be an opportunity to reconnect with former Aides, and to see where the Program is today! In addition to all of this the goal is to start an endowment to support future Aide programming.

We are seeking gifts to sponsor this historic event and proceeds will benefit the Office of Cultural and Academic Transitions Intersection Endowment. The Office of Cultural and Academic Transitions Interactions Endowment is dedicated to impact on the MSU Community. The Office of Cultural and Academic Transitions Intersection Endowment supports creative and innovative initiatives that cultivate cooperation among different cultural student communities.

In 1969, the concerns of Black students came to a head with the University administration. Black students believed racism and discrimination pervaded throughout the University and they had strong feelings about the lack of sensitivity for Black student's problems. One particular area of concern to Black students and student affairs staff was the lack of Black advisors in student services positions.

In the Fall of 1968 and Winter of 1969, the student affairs staff met with Black Students to specifically discuss ways of increasing minority staff in housing positions. A proposal for a Black Student Aide Program was developed by the Director of Residence Hall Programs and approved by the group. Funding for 24 Black Student Aides was approved in the Spring of 1969 by Dr. Milton Dickerson, Vice President for Student Affairs. In 1972, the program was expanded to include Hispanic and Indian students and its name was changed to the Minority Aide Program.

In the spring of 1987, Vice President of Student Affairs and Services, Dr. Moses Turner expanded the Program to include the Asian Pacific American student population. Asian Pacific American students joined the Program in the Fall of 1987. In July 2001 the name of the Aides were changed to Racial Ethnic Student Aides and again changed to current name in December 2006 to Transition and Cultural Aides. Throughout the past thirty-nine years, the Aide program has been committed serving and supporting students of color here at MSU. In the year 2009, we will celebrate forty years of "Education, Leadership, Culture and Awareness"