1970s
From 1974-1980, the Combahee River Collective, a group of black feminists, was active at UD and called attention to the need for all women’s voices to be heard, not just white middle-class women who received most of the media coverage of feminism. There was also a committee meeting held at UD in which students gave input to the Women’s Studies Program. An overview of the meeting explained, “Black women are giving input to the Women’s Studies Program. Concern was expressed that all Women’s Studies courses or women-content courses should be sensitive to the fact that Women’s Studies included all kinds of women and also be aware of regional and socio-economic differences.”
Intersectional Courses and Lectures: In 1974, UD started offering classes on Racism and Sexism, Black Woman Writers, and a history of black women, indicating the beginning of the intersectional study of racism and sexism at UD. Other classes in development in 1975 included The Black Woman in America and Black Women’s Literature. Dr. Barbara Smith gave a colloquium titled “Black Woman Writers: A Lost Tradition” while UD held a lecture called “The Black Woman, Past and Present: Challenges and Dilemmas” in 1975 and 1976, respectively
A Review article describing UD becoming a member of the Center for African and African American Studies
1980s
“Some of our concerns stem from the lack of coverage of positive events outside of the white community and inadequate research on those events which are covered. In addition, it seems that many of The Review reporters either have the inability to be objective or simply do not consider objectiveness important.”
BSU President Janine Hunt on the inaccurate coverage of black student life, The Review Vol. 116 No. 29, Dec 15, 1989
The Center for Black Culture, which changed its name from the Minority Center in 1985, held several programs to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the 80s. In 1981, they held a program titled “Life of a King” while the Black Student Union also held an additional two-part program that consisted of screening the documentary “Montgomery to Memphis” and a discussion at the Center for Black Culture. In 1985, the Center sponsored another program titled “A Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration” led by Benjamin Hooks, executive director of the NAACP, at the Student Center. The University also led several efforts to research and increase diversity in the 80s. In March of 1987, UD Administration launched an effort to increase the African-American faculty presence to 3.2 percent, the biggest single jump in the last 20 years. Since that time, the percentage of African-American faculty members has increased at a barely perceptible rate—only one percent. In January of 1998, President Jones requested a report with the question, “Why is Black student retention so high and enrollment so low?” The resulting enrollment and retention research attempted to answer this question, and revealed that less than 11% of Black students polled agreed that UD made it known racist behavior is not tolerated. In 1988, the Women’s Studies Department developed a one-credit Research on Racism course and lecture series, which was modeled after the highly successful Research on Women series. The series included University faculty, students, and staff, as well as occasional outside speakers, who discussed their current research on racism. The purpose of the series was to provide a University-wide forum on the subject of racism and to provide encouragement for the further development of research and teaching in this area.
1990s
“Protest leaders read a list of 10 demands, which included the establishment of a mandatory ethnic sensitivity week, revision of the multicultural course requirement and the formulation of a black student recruitment task force”
UD Review, March 12, 1991
The 90s saw students and community members raising their voices about race at UD. In 1991, 120 protesters occupied Smith Hall during a sit-in staged by the Black Student Union in which they read a list of 10 demands. Then, in 1992, parents and students then addressed the administration after an instance of police brutality at Laird Campus in September while alumni and students discussed feeling segregated on campus as UD’s demographics were being reviewed. That same year, the Black Student Union urged black students to boycott the College of Education due to it not making black students feel welcome or accepted.
“They called for a thorough investigation of university and Newark Police actions during the incident in which four university students were arrested”
UD Review, September 29th, 1992
UD students held a counterprotest that they named the “Unity Day Rally” and garnered roughly 400 participants after a KKK March on Main Street had taken place in February of 1993. In 1994, the African Consciousness Celebration planned a 5 week long presentation known as U.N.I.T.Y.—Understanding Now Inspires Tomorrow’s Youth—in honor of Black History Month. The celebration included several programs designed to promote racial awareness throughout the student body.
“I honestly believe that hardly any white people have the knowledge about most of the African American programs. They usually pass by. They always have in the past for me”
Andre Davis (Student), UD Review February 15th, 1994
Discussions of campus segregation escalated in 1997 as black students discussed feeling uncomfortable speaking up in class and experiencing racism from faculty and other students. In April of that year, Dennis Rahim Watson addressed black male/female relationships in his talk “Black Love in the Afternoon.”
Black Student Union Speaker, 1992
2000s
Police brutality and racial injustice were a national issue in the year 2000 with the murder of Amadou Diallo, an unarmed black man, and the imprisonment of Mumia Abu-Jamal, a black political activist, and students at the University of Delaware joined in protest against these instances of racial injustice. Throughout the year 2005 there was an enhanced awareness of hate crimes on campus by the student population. These crimes were most often directed toward black, Jewish, and homosexual students. Students responded by using their Registered Student Organizations to hold a forum to address the issue.
2010s
In September 2015, students were shocked to see images of nooses circulating on social media in addition to nooses hanging outside of Mitchell Hall. While UDPD’s investigation concluded the nooses were actually remnants of paper lanterns, students still felt this incident could be used as a catalyst to discuss racism at the University. On September 23rd, various students and faculty voiced their concerns and thoughts on the steps of Memorial Hall. Many students discussed their experiences with discrimination and dissatisfaction with the lack of education about race on campus. One student expressed a sentiment shared by many, even to this day: “We’re [the University] doing the same things over and over again and hoping for a different response.” Acting president Nancy M. Targett pledged to fight racism at the University; however, it is uncertain whether any measurable change was produced after this incident. In 2021 Juneteenth was made a federal holiday, and UD hosted an event on October 26, 2022 in order to celebrate and honor Opal Lee.
