Hometown: Kalamazoo, Michigan
Year: Sophomore
Major: Electrical Engineering
Day or night, during the week or weekend, if you hit up Socrates Montero looking for something to do, chances are he’ll be able to fill you in on what’s going on, on campus. In fact, you can consider him the Michigan State connoisseur of events in our black community. I, myself, have run into Mr. Montero more than a few times while out and about, and last Friday, I was able to sit him down for a HerCampus interview.
Even though he’s only a sophomore, Montero has been quite active within our black community, and during our talk, he enlightened me on some of the issues the community has, in regards to the events that are held. Flyers can be found throughout campus highlighting programs that different organizations and Greek life host. Discussion panels and programs to honor/identify issues in our community are quite common. Montero strongly believes that it is our responsibility as an audience to sift through these events for programs that serve a real purpose.
“A lot of these programs are just for hype,” he told me. “People go because it’s cool, but they need to focus on what the message is.”
I asked him if he blamed the organizations for this problem, to which he replied “no”.
“It’s the audience’s responsibility to recognize what’s beneficial for them. If our events are only for entertainment, then we’re wasting time.”
Of course, Montero didn’t leave our interview only pointing out negatives, and he gave me a few details on what he’s involved with on campus. His latest project includes hosting a Women’s Appreciation program with other young black men at the university. He made sure to tell me this group wasn’t a traditional “organization,” but instead, just a group of individuals wanting to show women that they are loved and cherished at MSU. The program will be held on April 21st in the Michigan State ballroom, and it is free. Food and drink will be provided and the women attending will be served and hosted by the men. Flyers for the event should be making their way around campus soon, and an RSVP is required for any young ladies wishing to attend. They’re hoping the Women’s Appreciation program will be an annual occurrence.
Montero is also involved with MSU’s chapter of the NAACP. Their latest program, which sought out to raise awareness of micro-aggression, was a success. Attendees learned how identify all forms of this problem that plagues college campuses around the world, and how to combat it. If you would like to keep up with what else our NAACP chapter is doing, follow its Instagram account at @MSUNAACP.
If you’re hoping to catch up with Socrates, possibly to see what’s going on in our community or what the turn up is for the night, follow him on twitter at @atten_deficit or shoot him an email at Smontero1995@gmail.com!