Officers
President:   Laurentis Barnett   lbarnett03@mmc.edu
Vice-President:   Tamara Evans   tevans02@mmc.edu
Treasurer:   Krystal Little   klittle03@mmc.edu
Secretary:   Maya Oliver   moliver03@mmc.edu
Historian:   Stacie Green-Burch   sgreene@mmc.edu
President-Elect:   Janita Alexander   jalexander02@mmc.edu

Yearly events
Vendors Day
Impression Program
Numerous lunch and learns
Annual Christmas Party

Upcoming events
Participation in MLK walk-January;
Black History program-February;
Impression day-February 11;
Vendors Day-March 22;
Meharry Olympic Day-April;
End of year Celebration-May
National Dental Association Convention July 2006.

How to Join (Contact info), Requirements for Active Membership
All Dental Students are members of SNDA, yearly dues are assessed within tuition fees.

Visit the National SNDA webpage - http://www.sndaonline.com/

History
The Student National Dental Association (SNDA) originated from concerned dental students at Meharry Medical College in 1970. Over fifty years after the inception and creation of the National Dental Association, these students at Meharry organized and put together the foundation of what would become the largest minority student organization in the United States.
The lack of a structured mechanism to promote contact between minority dentists and students of dentistry was the major impetus to form the SNDA. In letter from Reuben Warren, student government Vice President at the Meharry, to Dr. James W. Holley, III, President of NDA, the desire to start a "student chapter of the NDA" was communicated. At the NDA Mid-Winter meeting March 7-8, 1970, the Student National Dental Association was voted into existence.

Since this humble beginning, the SNDA has grown to approximately 1,100 minority dental student''; members who are from African-American, Hispanic, and Native backgrounds from among the approximately 21,000 dental students enrolled at the 56 US dental schools. Since 1970, SNDA has become an integral minority students and minority dental health practioners, withh the ultimate goal of improving the health manpower distribution among the minority population as defined by the Department of Health and Human Services. SNDA Regional and National meetings are held annually to advance and refine the collective efforts of the organization.

Mission Statement
Minority populations in America, namely African American and Hispanic, are growing faster than any other population group. However, this growth has not been witnessed in the number of health professionals in this country, including dental and medical students and faculty. Currently there are 34 million African Americans, approximately twelve percent of the general population, yet they only represent one percent of dentists in this country. With these figures in mind, one can begin to understand the current disparities in the health status of minority populations compared with the general populations.  In 1990, minority faculty was 6.9 percent of the total faculty. By 1998, this percentage had increased to 9.1, however; African American full time faculty has averaged 4.7 percent with a peak of 5 percent in 1994. The latest figures in 1998, reported African Americans holding 4.6 percent of full time faculty positions. Hispanic full time faculty has increased from 1.9 percent in 1990 to 4.6 in 1998. This tread indicates that overall minority populations are gaining positions, but African American faculty are not following that trend. According to 1994 data, the number of tenured faculty follows similar trends, African Americans are 4 percent of tenured faculty and Hispanics are 3 percent. African Americans have greater numbers in the non-tenured full time faculty category, where Hispanics maintain the same numbers. The distribution of minority faculty among the United States dental schools is also very uneven. While most schools have no underrepresented minority basic science faculty, almost all schools have at least one minority clinical faculty member. Seventy-five percent of African American basic science faculty are at Howard and Meharry dental schools and fifty-one percent of the Hispanic faculty are at the University of Puerto Rico. Approximately one-third of all African American and Hispanic clinical faculty are at these three schools. Data about minority faculty in administrative positions are also minimal. Very few associate and assistant deans, department chair or program directors are minorities. It is suggested that the underlying causes for this discrepancy in promotion may discourage minorities from pursing an academic career. Overall, underrepresented minorities hold fewer tenured faculty, administrative, and senior academic ranks than their non-minority colleagues. Minority faculty in dental schools is crucial in the recruitment and retention of minority students. These faculty members must play an active role in the administrative aspects of the university especially admissions. Some sources suggest that admissions committees tend to admit in their own image, therefore, the presence of significant numbers of minorities on the admissions committee is important. The severity of this problem is witnessed by the drop in underrepresented minorities enrolled in dental school from 12.68 percent in 1994 to 10.53 percent in 1999. A similar trend is seen in medical school enrollment. Minority faculty at dental institutions are an integral part of ensuring a positive future for minorities in the dental profession. An optimistic future of minority health care providers is imperative in attempting to decrease the disparities in health experienced by members of minority populations.