Students express themselves in Expressions magazine

Walking around campus, students will find newsstands with various publications including newspapers, flyers and magazines. One publication that is commonly overlooked is Expressions, a minority magazine.

Unfortunately, many ECU students have never heard of Expressions or have passed by it without bothering to look at it and see what it is all about.

So, what exactly is Expressions?

Expressions is a student-run publication that allows minority students to showcase their writing and artistic abilities.

"Being a minority applies to more than race," said Erica Chan, art director for Expressions. "It can be anything."

According to Expressions, a minority is any group of students that feels outside of the norm or mainstream. In other words, any student who feels different from other students on campus in any kind of way is welcome to submit their work.

Expressions' mission is to provide an alternative voice to address the special concerns and problems of minority groups on campus. The vision of the magazine is to present the opinions of various minority voices in order to inform, entertain and affect social change and understanding.

Expressions magazine is published twice a semester and features short stories, poetry, art and photography. Each publication has a central theme that brings all of the writing and art together. Normally all submissions are published, but they are all reviewed for content to make sure that they fit the theme.

The magazine used to be solely media based, but now, according to Chaunte' Rucker, general manager of Expressions, things are changing.

"We are evolving more into an organization," said Rucker.

She expressed that she wanted students to meet and get to know other students who have the same passion for writing and art. Rucker also spoke of plans for workshops in collaboration with other student organizations.

"We are going to become more involved around campus," she said.

There was a contributors meeting on Monday night where some of the students who have submitted work got together to discuss plans. It's not too late for anyone who is interested in submitting work for Expressions. The deadline to submit work for the upcoming publication is Sept. 16.

For those who are more interested in reading the work and absorbing the art, be sure to pick up the next issue of Expressions, coming out this December.

For more information call, Expressions at 328-9274, check out the Web site at expressions.ecu.edu, or stop by the office in the Self-Help building at 301 S. Evans St., Suite 202-A.

This writer can be contacted at features@theeastcarolinian.com