[nabs-l] Joining local chapters

[Kaiti Shelton]

Hi all,

I realize this thread may very well spark some debate, but I'm
prepared for that.  For the past two years I've had a dilemma and I'm
trying to explain it to a chapter president in my affiliate.  I live
in one city and attend school in another, so there off the bat is no
way I'd be able to attend either chapter's meetings on a monthly basis
as I would like to do.  Chapter presidents in both cities at different
times have told me I should join and even consider running for a board
position, which I will not do because of my inability to faithfully
attend the meetings.  One of the two chapters gets this a little
better than the other now, and has pretty much given me a "come when
you can, we'd love to have you when we can get you here," reception.
The other chapter is near where I go to school, but the chapter
president doesn't seem to get the student thing.  I try to go to
things when I can, but I partially dread it because every time I
attend some social function the floodgates for this conversation are
opened again.  I'm told again that I am needed in the chapter, that I
can really make a difference, and if I join more students will join
and the chapter is not by any means comprised of young people.

This has been happening for two years at least, and I feel a little
confused and pressured to join.  I know he is doing his job as a
chapter president, especially because he knows I'm active and
dedicated to the student division, the affiliate, and other projects
in the NFB, but being in that older crowd I don't think he understands
what it is like for students anymore.  In my sophomore year I had
difficulty attending chapter meetings for a few reasons.  One was that
they are on the first Saturday or the month, which conflicts with
nearly every break from school I have including the two midterm breaks
and the Christmas break.  The Christmas spaghetti dinner is also
something the chapter tries to get me to come to, but it is always
scheduled durring my finals week.  When I worked on Saturdays at a
part time job my sophomore year they wanted me to take off work to
attend chapter meetings.  At the time that was my grocery money, so
giving work wasn't something I was willing to do; I wanted to pick up
extra hours, not throw them away.  I also have been in a professional
music fraternity since the spring semester of my Freshman year, and a
lot of our major events (recruitment events, initiations and pledging
ceremonies, etc) happen on Saturdays.  With the chapter meetings
scheduled from 1:00-3:00 PM, not to mention the location is subject to
change from place to place so students can't plan for consistency, I
have had difficulty in getting there.

I've emailed the chapter president a few times about how there is a
double-standard here.  He wants new blood in the chapter, but when I
tell him it is very difficult to add in chapter meetings when the time
isn't very accessible to me he thumbs his nose and tells me I should
cancel work or do what it takes to come to chapter meetings because it
would benefit the chapter.  I try to explain to him that while I do
understand personal sacrifices can and should be made to an extent,
students do not have as much flexibility as working people to move
classes around in the week, and there are only so many hours in the
weekend.  Not to mention extracurriculars are a good thing for blind
students to be involved in because it shows peers that we can be
engaged and active in the same ways as they are.  It also creates
networking opportunities and even job prospects after graduation as
long as the extracurriculars are not merely social in nature, which
mine are not.  I want to join the local chapter nearby, but I also
want to experience life as a student too in the year or so I have left
of undergrad.

I don't think this makes me a lazy Federationist as I have found ways
to be active in divisions and in the affiliate outside of chapters,
and I would venture to guess that 1:00-3:00 PM on a Saturday probably
isn't great for most students since it's right in the middle of the
day.  I did not send the email I drafted, but I feel like if the
chapter needs and wants students to join as badly as they say they do,
they need to make the meeting time more accessible to that group of
people.  Right now I know it is not for me, and I think that is also
the case for other highly-involved and motivated students who the
president would like to see join the chapter.

Thoughts?  I personally don't think I'm fully in the wrong here, but I
am open to anything at this point. I really would join the local
chapter if it were held at times that I could consistently attend.
Right now I'm able to make it to a scattered couple of social events
outside of the regular meeting times, but that's about it.  I've
prooven to be involved in the affiliate on committees and in other
projects including BELL, but right now I feel like joining either of
these chapters isn't a possibility for me and I'm not appreciating the
push-back for my reasons why.  It's not that I'm making excuses or
because I don't want to go; I think work conflicts and required
fraternity events which I will only be able to have for a year longer
tops are acceptable reasons to be absent, not to mention that when I'm
home traveling an hour to the meeting and then another hour back home
2 hours later is a bit much to ask.  I suppose my logic is that I am
already a Federationist and I can join a chapter when the time is
right for me to do so, and by that I mean when I can actively
contribute in a stable and dedicated way.  That will most likely come
when I have a 40 hour work week like the rest of the current chapter
if they don't take their desire for student members and what is
accessible to them into consideration.
-- 
Kaiti Shelton
University of Dayton-Music Therapy
President, Ohio Association of Blind Students 2013-Present
Secretary, The National Federation of the Blind Performing Arts
Division 2015-2016

"You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back!"