On Thursday evening, faculty and staff of color gathered in the University Union Undergrounds to discuss the mission and purpose of one of Binghamton University’s newest organization.

This inaugural meeting of the Faculty and Staff of Color Association (FSCA) was led by facilitators Nolana Quince, a pre-law advisor and Tanyah Barnes, a fellow for the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

According to Quince, though the FSCA is new to BU, it has branches on campuses around the country, like Lehigh University and Washington State University. She said that the association aims to create a support system for faculty and staff of color, who make up a minority on many campuses.

“When I felt a little bit isolated, I started to reach out and just look at what other schools were doing,” Quince said. “Once I saw this type of association, I just knew that I wanted to start it. I started the initiative, I started to talk to other people and started to hear from them that they really wanted something like this.”

One of those fellow faculty members included Barnes, who has been working at BU since 2009. She was previously a graduate assistant at the University of South Florida, which she said she found to be a more diverse environment.

“Did I feel some isolation when I first got here? Yes,” Barnes said. “When I moved into residential life, my position at that time, I was the only person of visible color.”

With the introduction of the FSCA, Barnes said she believes campus is moving in a positive direction and that she has seen much improvement.

“We didn’t have the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, we didn’t have the road maps with the divisional goals for diversity to be a focus [in 2009],” Barnes said. “I do think the campus has grown.”

Barnes and Quince have many goals for the association and plan to grow and appoint E-Board members in the future. Quince said that she hopes the association will help increase diversity on campus and provide a model of inclusivity and tolerance.

“Long term, I want this group to be a force to be reckoned with on campus,” Quince said.“The main goal is to have it be something … bringing a little bit of color, a little bit of culture. As a whole, we want to expand out to the broader community.”

Though the association will be composed of faculty and staff, it also aims to reach out and support campus’ student body.

“There’s going to be a committee just designed for student development and coming up with events and programs for students,” Quince said. “The sky is the limit for what they come up with. This can include scholarships, social events and career development events for students of color.”