The Black Caucus at Penn State University
College student organization
The Black Caucus at Penn State's University Park Campus is a student organization founded in 1971. The Black Caucus serves as an umbrella organization to minority students and student organizations. They aim to promote the social and political development of students at Penn State. In addition, they provide students of color with a safe space to voice the struggles experienced in a predominantly white institution. During the Fall and Spring semesters, the Black Caucus holds weekly meetings titled Sankofa. Every year since 2009, the organization hosts the Ashe Awards - an award ceremony dedicated to honoring students, faculty, and student groups who have excelled in promoting diversity at Penn State.
History
While the Black Caucus was founded in 1971, the organization has roots in two other Black student organizations. The Frederick E. Douglass Association, founded in October 1967, transitioned into the Black Student Union in 1969, which would be replaced by the Black Caucus in 1971.
The Frederick E. Douglass Association
The Frederick E. Douglass Association named their group after Frederick Douglass –– Black abolitionist, suffragist, diplomat, and more.
1967 Petition
In November 1967, the Douglass Association petitioned Penn State's administration to instate an Afro American History course no later than the winter session of 1968.
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This entry incorporates text from “The Black Caucus at Penn State University” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.