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Student African American Brotherhood Relocates to Springfield

Missouri State University's press conference to announce the relocation of SAAB. Right to left: MSU President Clif Smart, MSU chief diversity officer Wes Pratt, and CFO chair Abe McGull.
Missouri State University's press conference to announce the relocation of SAAB. Right to left: MSU President Clif Smart, MSU chief diversity officer Wes Pratt, and CFO chair Abe McGull.

 

Missouri State University's press conference to announce the relocation of SAAB. Right to left: MSU President Clif Smart, MSU chief diversity officer Wes Pratt, and CFO chair Abe McGull.
Missouri State University's press conference to announce the relocation of SAAB. Right to left: MSU President Clif Smart, MSU chief diversity officer Wes Pratt, and CFO chair Abe McGull.

A national organization dedicated to helping men of color through college has moved its offices to the Springfield campus of Missouri State University. Listen to the audio for this story here.

The Student African American Brotherhood, or SAAB for short, signed a two-year contract with MSU to move its headquarters from Toledo, Ohio, to downtown’s Park Central Office building. MSU said the Community Foundation of the Ozarks and the Missouri Scholarship and Loan Foundation funded the move.

Dr. Tyrone Bledsoe, who founded SAAB in 1990, spoke remotely at a university press conference on June 9. He said the move to Springfield gives SAAB visibility at a moment of upheaval across the country due to COVID-19 and protests following the death of George Floyd.“What a time to bring about transformative change, as it relates to racial injustice and inequality for our families, communities, states, and nation at large,” Bledsoe said.

Bledsoe told KSMU SAAB plans to expand operations by working with elementary, middle, and high schools in Springfield to set up young men for success in college. MSU President Clif Smart also spoke at the press conference, as well as MSU’s chief diversity officer Wes Pratt, and the chair of the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, Abe McGull. McGull said SAAB, the university, and the CFO had been in talks about the move since 2015.

SAAB will be relocated by the end of the June.

Copyright 2021 KSMU. To see more, visit KSMU.

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Josh Conaway is a second year student at Missouri State University studying political science and Spanish. He works as news reporter and announcer for KSMU. His favorite part of working for KSMU is meeting a wide variety of interesting people for stories. He has a passion for history and running.