News anchor Courtis Fuller, from Cincinnati's NBC affiliate, will visit campus as part of Oxford's National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) chapter's annual banquet Feb. 16.

NAACP President Richard Arthur Miller said the decision to bring Fuller to campus was based off his popularity and ability to draw a crowd.

Miller said attendance always drops off in times of economic uncertainty.

"When the economy gets slow and tight, it always effects our banquet," Miller said.

Miami NAACP chapter president Nicole Gray said that although the two chapters operate separately, students are invited to the banquet every year.

"None of us can go this year," Gray said. "But they let us bring as many of us that can go."

Gray said Miami's NAACP chapter is new on campus and that membership is currently at twelve students.

Oxford's NAACP, on the other hand, has been in existence since 1943, when Miller's grandparents founded it. Currently, Miller said membership stands around 300 but is thinning due to the struggling economy.

Proceeds from the ticket sale fund the chapter's scholarship for Talawanda High School seniors. Miller said the "freedom fund" depends on how much money the banquet raises.

The scholarship encourages high school students to pursue higher education after graduation, and in the past, has raised $500 for the recipient.

"We're trying to encourage kids to go to school." Miller said. "It can be a trade school or a university."

Miller also said that the scholarship is not based on GPA but on factors like need and additional merit instead.

This year's theme for the banquet, "Democracy in Action," was chosen to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the NAACP. Miller said that since Oxford is 90 percent white, the chapter's original purpose involved both black and whites working together.

"What we're celebrating is 100 years of working together," Miller said. "We want to celebrate our unity. People truly live their life with this unity."

Gray said the student invitation to the banquet holds additional value and shows the two chapters working together to promote race relations on campus and off.