Kevin-Jamal Muhammad is not your traditional college student. He does not spend his weekends searching out the next big party or sitting on the couch avoiding his homework. Muhammad does not chase women, drink alcohol, smoke or bother with drugs.He does attend class and listens to lectures, but after hearing him speak, it becomes evident that the criminology major takes home a slightly different lesson than the other students in his classes.Muhammad is the president and recent founder of the Ohio State Nation of Islam Students Association. The 27-year-old Columbus native is married with a 3-year-old daughter, a head full of ideas and a heart full of passion and determination. Muhammad has seen war firsthand during his time in the Persian Gulf, and is now seeking peace for himself and his community.Muhammad stands almost exactly 6 feet tall. He talks quickly, with a perceptible Southern drawl which is a result of the nine years he spent growing up with his great-grandparents in Arkansas.He dresses in suits and bowties and wears a large silver pin on his left lapel commemorating the Million Family March, which was sponsored by the Nation of Islam.Muhammad’s hands and speech patterns often display a sense of urgency, which can be easily confused with restlessness. He has much to say on almost any given subject and hops fluidly from one thought to the next. There is no denying the passion that fuels Muhammad, or his enthusiasm for his life’s work.”What drives me is the fact of everything my ancestors have done so I can have it better than they had it. Someone died for me to have this, so I must die for the next generation if I have to,” he said.”The goal of the Nation of Islam Student Association is to bring the teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad to all people on campus, but particularly to African-American people and people of color in the western hemisphere who suffer under white supremacy,” Muhammad explained.Muhammad, born Kevin-Jamal Brown, was married at the age of 19. Less than a year later, he joined the Army and soon switched to the Marine Corps, serving in the Persian Gulf War. Muhammad left the Marines with the rank of corporal and returned to the United States troubled and confused from his wartime experiences.”You saw a lot in the war. I was just a confused brother coming back from the military. I heard Minister Louis Farrakhan in 1991 in St. Louis and learned the teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad through him. I sought to make a change at that point,” Muhammad said.Muhammad returned to Columbus, became more directly involved in the Nation of Islam and returned to school. Eventually, he found himself at OSU and realized that he could make a difference here. Muhammad soon became vice president of the Minority Sociology and Criminology Club and began working to introduce the Nation of Islam Student Association to campus.In its first year as a registered organization, the Nation of Islam Student Association is struggling to get its name known, generate more members and make an impact on the campus. But before any of that, the group had to struggle for its right to exist. Muhammad believes the Office of Student Affairs deliberately withheld funds from the organization to discourage them from registering.”We submitted all our paperwork in a timely manner, but it took us about a month to get our money. I had to go two or three times to request it. I never got an apology or a written letter explaining why it was on hold,” Muhammad said.The beliefs of the Nation of Islam are often in direct conflict with the ideals of capitalist America and the American minority system.Led by Minister Louis Farrakhan, the organization has often been the subject of criticism. Farrakhan himself has been branded a racist and an anti-Semite on more than a few occasions. Despite the negative public perception of the group, Muhammad and his followers on campus appear unfazed.”People who compare us to the Ku Klux Klan haven’t done their history. Minister Farrakhan has never taught us to pick up so much as a penknife,” said Muhammad, who freely admits that the Nation of Islam is not a “passive organization.”When Muhammad met with two of the group’s original four members, the beliefs of the group quickly became evident. Not surprisingly, their main concerns parallel those of other black organizations: Education, communication, unity and equality.”College is set up to teach you certain things, so the people who are testing you know exactly what you’re going to know.” said Tamika Gustus, a sophomore in nursing. “You have to be smarter, to check out their boundaries and get that other information.””Knowledge is everything. The Nation of Islam teaches you true knowledge of self,” said Kevin Muhammad, an architecture transfer student (no relation to Kevin-Jamal Muhammad). “Once you have that, there isn’t anything anybody can do against you. If you know a person’s plan, you know how to counterattack it.”While the two members are speaking, the elder Muhammad remains silent, nodding encouragingly. He begins speaking only after they are clearly finished expressing their thoughts.”We go to colleges and come out with all our degrees, but what is the reality in our neighborhoods? Are we fixing the reality? A lot of us are not. We get caught up in the capitalist society. We get our degrees and we get comfortable. Really, having a doctorate degree or a master’s degree means nothing. Even Europeans are saying it’s not what you’ve got, it’s who you know. And since we know Allah, we’re going to be OK.”Gustus is devoted to improving the role of women and speaks at length about the negative depiction and treatment of black women in society.”Women are the key. Everything happens from woman,” she said. “Everything I know is going to be passed into the womb to my child and my child will be strong because of that. Our women need to become strong.”As the conversation continues, every conceivable topic is discussed, from the election and the conflict in the Middle East to drugs and pre-marital sex. Most of the opinions of the Nation of Islam Student Association come directly from the teachings of the Koran, the Islamic holy book.”People do a lot of wrong things just because society accepts it,” Muhammad said, “But if you’re created in the image of God, then you’re bigger than what society says.”