Present:    Shon Brookins, Ciara Wimby, Funmi Ajayi, Michelle Morrow, Gopi Engineer, Deborah Umrani, Christopher Umrani, Katherine Battee Freeman, Tonya Sanders, Loren Henderson, Nneko Okoro, Vernetta Edwards, Sheryl Blackwell, George Blackwell, Mary Maryland, Juanita McCary, DJ Wells, Teauria Brown, Andrea Evans, Eric Meredith, Albany Devers

?    Meeting called to order by Andrea Evans, BAAC President at 6:34pm.
?    Introductions of those in attendance.
?    Report on meeting with the new Chancellor, Paula Allen-Meares.  At the event Leo presented on behalf of BAAC.  He spoke specifically about our work thus far as an affiliate group (i.e. work with AAAN).  The chancellor was impressed with what was said.  Christopher Vaughn attended as well.  Mary Maryland was also in attendance.  She mentioned that Congressman Davis is giving her a reception on Sunday.
?    DJ mentioned that the Chancellor is in need of our community’s support.
?    Andrea wants to have her attend one of our future meetings.  Part of the discussion will be on how we can support each other.

Announcements:
?    Grad Finale event:  More volunteers are needed to work with Andrea and Albany.  Christopher Vaughn volunteered to help at the BAAC table.  Andrea spoke of the opportunity for us to be present at the event to interact with our future grads.  Donations of books and prizes are needed for the event.  Gopi agreed to collect the donations.  Andrea made mention of the fact that last year many of the graduates that she encountered had no clue as to their next step after completing their degree programs.  This brings home the point that our help is needed to provide information, networking, and mentoring opportunities for our new alums.
?    This led to further discussion on how we can work with AAAN in mentoring students.  DJ offered to bring to one of our future meetings the documentary, Storming the Gates.  The documentary was produced by the Illinois African American and Latino Educational Alliance (ILALEA).
?    AAAN Convocation:  May 8th at the UIC Forum.  Juanita invited everyone present at the today’s meeting to attend.  Christopher has agreed to bring greetings to the graduates on behalf of BAAC.  Mary Maryland will serve as the Keynote Speaker.  BAAC will also have a table.  A sign up sheet for volunteers was passed around.
?    Magnet Program:  It creates new web presence and will be easier to manage than the current website.  This includes the ability to add events and etc.  Gopi gave a demo.  BAAC will be in charge of creating our own site via the standard template that can be customized.  The Magnet Program will be rolled out in May.  It is important for each of our committees to begin outlining content.  BAAC will be able to get our info online in mid-May to early June.  We need to decide upon the content of each of the sections for membership, news, committee break down, membership directory, calendar, and etc.   BAAC will be solely responsible for content.  So someone will need to be identified with having the responsibility for maintaining the website (Eric).  The goal is to recruit additional folks to help with the website.
?    DJ Wells:  Sept. 19, 2009 Urban Health Program (UHP) at UIC will celebrate its 30th anniversary.  He asked that we save the date.  At our next meeting DJ will also give a presentation about UHP.  DJ also talked about the month of the African American male (April via proclamation from the governor and the state legislature) and all the events in the Chicago area, the Black male summit and the Illinois Committee on Black Concerns in Higher Education’s (ICBCHE) professional conference regarding students navigating the educational pipeline and a leadership and mentoring conference for high school aged males at CSU, and lastly a best practices conference (27th & 28th) at the end of April at CSU also.   Folks can contact DJ via e-mail for further info.  Also DJ will pass on info regarding the last event to Michelle to send out to the BAAC e-mail group.
?    Annual Plan and group breakout reports:
?    Communications Committee:  BAAC website up and running in July; Kathyy Batee has volunteered to set up our presence on social networking sites (i.e. LinkedIn and Facebook); pilot newsletter; when Michelle sends out communications via e-mail, it will also be stressed our social networking presence and addresses our up and coming website.
?    Programming Committee: Plan a homecoming event in October and networking events for alums.
?    University Relations Committee:  Will enhance outreach efforts to department on campus (i.e. Chance and AAAN).   Will learn about where the need is and how BAAC can provide assistance in increasing retention rates of Black students; Christopher mentioned for instance that LAS has voiced the need for more Black alums to provide mentoring.  It was also discussed ways we can work with Black students who transfer from Malcolm X College and matriculate into UIC.  Mary Maryland and Deborah Umrani will strategize about how to formulate this plan.
?    Scholarship/Fundraising:  Albany suggested that BAAC utilize the activities at Maywood Park for a fundraising event in perhaps August.   Gopi recommended that 6 months are needed to properly plan and market an event of this nature.
?    Membership Committee:  The new membership application will be ready in time for the AAAN Commencement.  Also, will work on having the application available online.  Sonya has volunteered to be the photography expert for the website since she has a background in photography and film.
?    Next meeting date:  June 17, 2009 at 6pm.