AND
PRIDE
POWER THE BLACK STUDENT UNION CELEBRATES 50 YEARS AT UTICA COLLEGE
In the fall of 1966, a group of 20 black students came together to form United Students at Utica College. Its mission: “to inform both black and white students of the Negro in this society and, hopefully, promote more humanitarian attitudes toward the Negro in America.” Over the course of two years, the group grew and became more visible on campus while developing a progressive list of demands: install a lecture series for prominent black speakers, create courses on black history and achievement, establish a black cultural center on campus, and make a more concerted effort to recruit minority students, to name a few. “During the past three years, several black students have left Utica College because the educational system has been grossly delinquent in responding to the mod-
ern needs of the minority students,” their proposal began. While some of the demands were met, others had been ignored by college administration, prompting six students representing the newly named Black Students Union to stage a historic sit-in in a campus computer lab. Because of their efforts, an agreement was finally reached with then-president Dr. J. Kenneth Donahue. That was May 1969. Now, 50 years later, the Utica College Black Student Union is one of
the most visible and most active organizations on campus. Since 1969, its members have gone on to achieve personal and career success, and many of them returned to UC in October to celebrate the milestone during homecoming weekend. We spoke with four former BSU presidents to learn how their experience in the organization has impacted their lives—and is impacting them still. Jonathan Adewumi ’86 “I joined the BSU as a freshman in 1981. I was elected president in 1983
and served for two terms. At the time, the biggest issue for minority students at UC was that our organizations were not funded on par with the white organizations. The BSU was an umbrella organization that was comprised of students in black fraternities and sororities, black student athletes, the gospel choir and the rest of the black student population. The Black Student Union provided us with a vehicle to discuss issues that affected us as students on the campus and to proffer solutions. We conducted fundraising programs to meet budget shortfalls, and it also allowed us to have a united voice on the campus. There were many memorable events from my time
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