Student Organization Advocate for Youth

Student-led organization, S.A.Y., Students Advocating for Youth, was founded at Howard University in 2007 as a response to the summit on The Cradle to Prison Pipeline. The summit explored the national crisis that leaves African-American males born in 2001 with a one in three risk of going to prison and Latino males with one in six risk.

"Being a part of S.A.Y. means that I have the opportunity to be the voice for those don't have one," said Kiyonna Jones, S.A.Y.'s current president.

Students who are passionate and open to learning about what is going on in the community and energetic are more than welcomed to join the organization. "Members are also expected to care enough to do something," said former president, Kelsey Purdue.

Every other Tuesday, S.A.Y. meets to discus information on certain issues and design effective plans, programs and events to combat them.

According to current eboard member Trudy Nelson, S.A.Y. seeks to increase student's awareness about the youth that affect children & youth, ages 3-21.

"All organizations have their challenges but it takes a group of committed individuals to come together. It's not about the people in the organization, it is about the people that we are working on behalf," Perdue said.

They currently hope to donate money to a homeless shelter, adopt a family for the holidays, plan a program on Gender Identity Disorder and participate in the Angel Tree Project and Project Give Back.

This organization targets social and political actions. Perdue said it's an avenue that she's passionate and excited about.

"We want to lead children successfully into adulthood that often deal with things that prohibit their successful transition into adulthood like quality education, family problems, etc.," she added.

" I really love kids and I know they aren't able to speak on their behalf. So I wanted to do something about that. As the S.A.Y. president, I am dedicated to informing Howard's community about issues facing the Howard community," Jones said.