Brown Center for Students of Color

Last updated
Brown Center for Students of Color
Partridge Hall (Brown).jpg
Partridge Hall Entrance
Formation1976
HeadquartersPartridge Hall
Location
  • 68 Brown St.
    Providence, RI
Director
Mary Grace Almandrez
AffiliationsBrown University
Website https://www.brown.edu/campus-life/support/students-of-color/
Formerly called
Third World Center

The Brown Center for Students of Color (BCSC), formerly known as the Third World Center, is a center for the support of students of color at Brown University. Founded in 1972 at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, the Center is "a place and space for students of color to explore their identity, develop their leadership skills, and build a sense of community in a welcoming and supportive environment." [1] The BCSC was founded out of a rich history of student activism and organizing, a history that is honored in its mission today.

Contents

The center is staffed by administrators and student leaders and puts on a variety of workshops and events to spark dialogue and promote critical reflection and social justice around topics such as racism, classism, sexism, cissexism, heterosexism, imperialism, and ableism. Students can engage with the center as participants in the Third World Transition Program as well as apply to be Minority Peer Counselors, Heritage Series programmers, Initiative Coordinators, Student Advisory Board Members, and Office Aides. The BCSC is also open as a study and hang out space to students, with a variety of lounges and classrooms as well as Black, Latino, Asian American, Native, and Multiracial rooms that can be reserved for student group meetings. [2]

The center was renamed from being the Third World Center in the fall of 2014, and is in the process of developing a Social Justice Peer Educators Program. [3]

History

The Brown Center for Students of Color was established after a series of student protests in 1968 and 1975. Amid the civil rights movement of the late 1960s and 1970s, a group of Black students walked out of Brown University in December 1968 in protest of fierce racism on campus. The students were led by a group of Black women at the then separate women's college at Brown, Pembroke College. Sixty-five of what were only eighty-five Black students at the time walked out together and marched to the nearby Congdon Street Baptist Church. [4] The students had a list of demands for then President of the university, Ray Heffner. [5] These included increasing the university's enrollment of freshmen to 11%, which was granted alongside financial aid for those students and an increase in Black faculty and staff. [6] As a result of the 1968 demands, the eight-week-long academic and social enrichment focused Transitional Summer Program was created, later to be shortened and become the Third World Transitional Program in 1975. [7] The demands also led to the initial creation of the Rites and Reasons Theater in 1970, one of the oldest continuously running Black theaters in the country. A series of protests in 1972 by Third World Students pushed the university to recommit to the 1968 demands, which was one of the factors that led to the creation of the Minority Peer Counselor Program in 1973. [8]

The second set of protests in 1975 against the new administration headed by President Donald Frederick Hornig was in response to the proposed 1975-1976 budget. The budget was set to reduce financial aid and reduce faculty in a way that would affect minorities. Students formed a Third World Coalition and took over University Hall. Forty Black, Asian, and Latino students occupied University Hall for 38 and a half hours in an effort to again assert a recommitment to the 1968 demands. [9] This led to the renaming of the Transitional Summer Program to the Third World Transition Program as well as the establishment of the Third World Center in the basement of Churchill House. The Third World Center was actually established because the Afro House at 227 Bowen was going to be destroyed to create a new dormitory complex, so Churchill basement was proposed as the new quarters. The decision was made, however, to have the Third World Center cater to all Third World students, Black, Latino, Asian, and Native. [10]

In 1985, the Third World Coalition again occupied a university building, this time John Carter Brown Library, in an effort to increase minority representation in the student body and to reclaim documents of Brown's slaveholding family, among other demands. [11] In 1987, the Third World Center moved to its current location, Partridge Hall, as a result of the 1985 demands. [12]

In 1992, there was another takeover of University Hall and a push for continued commitment to the demands of the 1968, 1975, and 1985 protests. [13]

A strategic plan that ended in the fall of 2014 was charged with developing a revised mission statement for the center, developing a five-year plan that outlined goals of critical reflection and informed action, leadership development, and social justice education for students of color and their allies, and renaming the center in a way that still reflecting the legacy of student of color activism. It is under this charge that the Third World Center was renamed to be the Brown Center for Students of Color. [14]

Mission

The mission of the Brown Center for Students of Color has evolved over the years, but its current mission statement reads "Visualize. Vocalize. Mobilize." it continues to serve as a gathering place for students of color and makes an effort to "build meaningful relationships across difference, develop racial and ethnic consciousness, and enact change at Brown and beyond. The BCSC advances Brown University’s mission of educating and preparing students to discharge the offices of life with usefulness and reputation by empowering students of color, cultivating leadership, facilitating critical reflection, fostering informed action, and promoting social justice." [15]

Center Initiatives

Third World Transition Program

The Third World Transition Program (TWTP) was established in 1969 as the Transitional Summer Program as part of the demands of the 1968 student walk outs. It originally consisted of 7 weeks of academic enrichment followed by one week of socializing and other activities. [16] Currently, TWTP consists of 3 days of workshops about various systems of oppression such as racism, classism, sexism, heterosexism, and cissexism. The workshops are held as a pre-orientation program for students about to enter their first year of college that introduces students to a variety of support structures and resources on Brown's campus. It calls on participants to be open to new perspectives and reconsider history and aspects of their identity to both understand themselves and the community they have become a part of. [17] The name refers again, to Third World-ism rather than to any set of so-called Third World countries.

BCSC Staff 2014-2015 Bcsc staff.jpg
BCSC Staff 2014-2015

Controversy

Due to the topics of conversation discussed and to the unfamiliarity people may have with the history of the name, TWTP has been the recipient of much controversy. In 2002, the program was first opened to white students if they wished to participate. In 2006, only nine white students total had participated in the program. [18] Since then white student attendance has increased, which has led to concerns about the threat to the original intentions of the program being a space specifically geared towards students of color. Many students have also exhibited mixed reviews on the program's intentions and successes, from extreme success and community building to the exact opposite. [19] To that point, critical students have expressed that the timing of the program before other orientation activities separates the larger student body from TWTP participants, and press for a larger campus conversation incorporating all incoming freshmen. [20]

Minority Peer Counselor Program

The Minority Peer Counselor Program was created in 1973 by Black upperclassmen at Brown to help Black underclassmen with their academic pursuits. [21] Counselors act as a source of support and foster community. In the mid 70's, the program expanded to include those of Asian and Latino backgrounds. In the 80's, the program expanded to include Native and Multiracial students. In 1995, Arab Americans were also added to the possible applicant list. Minority Peer Counselors are often referred to in shorthand as MPCs.

In the 90's, MPCs began to offer workshops on Racism, Classism, Sexism, and Heterosexism and Homophobia in order to spark discussions and critical dialogue throughout campus. Hosted throughout the year, workshops often expand beyond the four outlined topics, addressing issues such as Cissexism, Imperialism, Ableism, Religious discrimination, and Ageism. The broader topics are often broken down into specific intersections of identity such as food access for different races and classes, Sexual Assault and Violence perpetuated towards communities of color, or Post-9/11 Islamophobia, as examples. Moreover, MPCs live in first year units at Brown, serving as resources and mentors to all students, drawing on their experiences as students of color. [22]

ALANA Mentoring Program

ALANA is a mentoring program founded in 1994 through the university. ALANA stands for the intended mentees of the program, African American, Latino, Asian/Asian American, and native students. It pairs students of color with staff, graduate/medical students, or alumni of color to foster meaningful interaction and provide support and guidance to incoming students. The program begins a freshman's second semester and continues into the first semester of their sophomore year. Though mentors and mentees are in constant dialogue, the program also hosts events throughout the year to let mentors and mentees share ideas and connect with one another. [23]

Heritage Series

The BCSC sponsors 5 distinct heritage series. They are the Black Heritage Series, the Latino Heritage Series, the Asian/Asian American Heritage Series, the Native American Heritage Series, and the Multiracial Heritage Series. The series are responsible for putting on student events and bringing distinguished speakers and performers to campus that reflect and celebrate the identities of their respective series. [24]

Student Initiatives

The BCSC also serves as a meeting place of student-led groups labelled as student initiatives that foster community between small groups that fall into broader categorizations, build leadership skills, or connect students directly to alumni. These include the Black Student Initiative, which maintains a close relationship with the Inman Page Black Alumni Council. The BCSC also houses BlackBoard and ONYX, a group that celebrates the graduation of Black students from Brown into being black alumni. The Latino Student Initiative and the Asian American Student Initiative work closely with Latino Alumni and the Asian/Asian American Alumni Alliance (A4), respectively. The BCSC also houses Latino Leadership Gatherings and the Pan Asian Council. [25]

Renaming

The Brown Center for Students of Color was renamed from its original name of the Third World Center in fall of 2014. Thirty potential names were discussed and voted on by involved faculty, staff, and students. [26] The name change was a result of a year long internal review that involved a reshaping of both the BCSC's mission, organizational structure, resources, and programs. These include the replacement of the Minority Peer counselor Friends program with the currently developing Social Justice Peer Educator program. [27] The internal review also led to the publishing of a strategic plan that outlined many of the center's priorities for the next five years.

Related Research Articles

Brown University Private university in Providence, Rhode Island

Brown University is a private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution.

University at Albany, SUNY State university in Albany, New York

The State University of New York at Albany, commonly referred to as the University at Albany, UAlbany or SUNY Albany, is a public research university with campuses in Albany, Rensselaer, and Guilderland, New York. It was founded in 1844 and is one of the "university centers" of the State University of New York (SUNY) system.

North Carolina A&T State University Public, historically black research university in Greensboro, North Carolina, U.S.

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University is a public, historically black land-grant research university in Greensboro, North Carolina. It is a constituent institution of the University of North Carolina System. Founded by the North Carolina General Assembly on March 9, 1891, as the Agricultural and Mechanical College for the Colored Race, it is the second college established under the provisions of the Morrill Act of 1890, as well as the first for people of color in the State of North Carolina. Initially, the college offered instruction in agriculture, English, horticulture and mathematics. In 1967, the college was designated a Regional University by the North Carolina General Assembly and renamed North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.

Loyola University Maryland Jesuit university in Baltimore, Maryland

Loyola University Maryland is a private Jesuit university in Baltimore, Maryland. Established as Loyola College in Maryland by John Early and eight other members of the Society of Jesus in 1852, it is the ninth-oldest Jesuit college in the United States and the first college in the United States to bear the name of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus.

1996 California Proposition 209 Ballot proposition that banned affirmative action in California

Proposition 209 is a California ballot proposition which, upon approval in November 1996, amended the state constitution to prohibit state governmental institutions from considering race, sex, or ethnicity, specifically in the areas of public employment, public contracting, and public education. Modeled on the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the California Civil Rights Initiative was authored by two California academics, Glynn Custred and Tom Wood. It was the first electoral test of affirmative action policies in North America. It passed with 55% in favor to 45% opposed.

Oakes College

Oakes College is a residential college at the University of California, Santa Cruz. It is on the southwestern corner of the campus, south of Rachel Carson College and east of the Family Student Housing complex.

Lambda Upsilon Lambda

La Unidad Latina, Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity, Inc. is a Latino-based collegiate fraternity. It was founded at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York on February 19, 1982, and has 74 active undergraduate chapters and 15 graduate alumni professional chapters in universities and cities across the United States. La Unidad Latina, Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity, Incorporated is the only Latino fraternity to be chartered at all 8 Ivy League universities. While founded on Latino principles, Lambda Upsilon Lambda has been open to men of all races since its inception. The fraternity is a member of The National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations (NALFO) and is its third oldest fraternal member by founding date. It also has the second longest-running continuously active status at the collegiate level for the association.

Asia-Pacific International University

Asia-Pacific International University is a private Christian university located in Saraburi, Thailand. Its main campus is in the rural town of Muak Lek, Saraburi Province and the nursing school is located on the grounds of Bangkok Adventist Hospital in downtown Bangkok. It is the only tertiary education institution serving the Southeast Asia Union Mission of Seventh-day Adventists. Asia-Pacific International University was formerly called Mission College until mid-2009 when it was granted university status. It is a part of the Seventh-day Adventist education system, the world's second largest Christian school system.

National Hispanic Institute International nonprofit organization

The National Hispanic Institute (NHI) is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the future leadership needs of the global Hispanic community. Founded in 1979 in the State of Texas with the mission of serving the future leadership needs of the United States via the Hispanic/Latino community, NHI became the largest Latino youth organization in the United States. NHI is now an international organization with over 85,000 alumni worldwide and a well-known consortium of notable colleges and universities.

Hispanic-serving institution With 25% or more total undergraduate Hispanic student enrollment

A Hispanic-serving institution (HSI) is defined in federal law as an accredited, degree-granting, public or private nonprofit institution of higher education with 25% or more total undergraduate Hispanic or Latino full-time equivalent (FTE) student enrollment. In the 2018–19 academic year, 539 institutions met the federal enrollment criterion.

Black Community Services Center Stanford University student center

The Black Community Services Center, originally known as the Black Student Volunteer Center, was established in 1969 in response to a series of Stanford University events resulting from the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in April 1968. Since then, the primary goals of the BCSC have changed from being a hub of political activity to a center promoting the personal, intellectual, and professional growth of students in the Black community.

The Black Action Movement was a series of protests by African American students against the policies and actions of the University of Michigan. The protests themselves took place on three occasions in 1970, 1975, and 1987. Many student organizations participated in the movement, which has been called one of the most challenging for administrators in the school's history. Alan Glenn of the Ann Arbor Chronicle said of the 1970 protests that "the BAM strike became one of the few protests of that era in which the students could make a valid claim of victory."

Transgender inequality is the unequal protection received by transgender people in work, school, and society in general. Transgender people regularly face transphobic harassment. Ultimately, one of the largest reasons that transgender people face inequality is due to a lack of public understanding of transgender people.

The Third World Liberation Front (TWLF) rose in 1968 as a coalition of ethnic student groups on college campuses in California in response to the Eurocentric education and lack of diversity at San Francisco State College and University of California, Berkeley. The TWLF was instrumental in creating and establishing Ethnic Studies and other identity studies as majors in their respective schools and universities across the United States.

In 1968, the Third World Liberation Front (TWLF), a coalition of the Black Students Union, the Latin American Students Organization, the Filipino American Collegiate Endeavor (PACE) the Filipino-American Students Organization, the Asian American Political Alliance, and El Renacimiento, a Mexican-American student organization, formed at San Francisco State University (SFSU) to call for campus reform. Another Third World Liberation Front formed at University of California, Berkeley in January 1969. These coalitions initiated and sustained the Third World Liberation Front strikes of 1968, one of the longest student strikes in US history.

Affirmative action refers to activities or policies that seek to help groups that are often affected by discrimination obtain equal access to opportunities, particularly in areas such as employment and education. In the early 2000s, the use of race, gender, and other factors in college and university admissions decisions came under attack. The University of Michigan was sued several times by students who felt they were denied admittance because they were white, and the idea of eliminating measures that provided women, minorities, and others with preferential treatment gained momentum. In 2006, voters approved Proposal 2—also called the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative—which "amend[ed] the Michigan Constitution to ban public institutions from discriminating against or giving preferential treatment to groups or individuals based on their race, gender, color, ethnicity, or national origin in public education, public employment, or public contracting". As a result, the university was prohibited from considering race as part of its holistic admissions process. Minority enrollment decreased, and the university was forced to develop alternative strategies to increase diversity among its student population.

The University of California, Los Angeles Asian American Studies Center (AASC) is an organization that educates students and the general public about the history of Asian American and Pacific Islanders and their experiences. The AASC is one of the leading and groundbreaking organizations to have substantial and credible resources for their research. Located in Campbell Hall, the AASC quickly became a center for resource-gathering and scholarship for the Asian American movement. Asian American student organizations at CSULA, Occidental, USC, and other colleges soon followed. It was a vital hub and training ground for young activists, a place where they could earn a salary while doing community work.

2020 California Proposition 16 California ballot measure to undo the states ban on affirmative action

Proposition 16 is a California ballot proposition that appeared on the November 3, 2020, general election ballot, asking California voters to amend the Constitution of California to repeal 1996's Proposition 209. Proposition 209 amended the state constitution to prohibit government institutions from considering race, sex, or ethnicity, specifically in the areas of public employment, public contracting, and public education. Therefore, Proposition 209 banned the use of race- and gender-based affirmative action in California's public sector.

Lyllye Reynolds-Parker is an American civil rights activist and educator. Born into one of the founding Black families of Eugene, Oregon, she is a leader in the city's movement for racial justice. She worked as a counselor at the University of Oregon’s Multicultural Center. The University honored her by opening the Lyllye Reynolds-Parker Black Cultural Center in 2019.

According to the National Science Foundation women and racial minorities are underrepresented in Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Scholars, governments, and scientific organizations from around the world have noted a variety of explanations contributing to this lack of racial diversity, including higher levels of discrimination, implicit bias, microaggressions, chilly climate, lack of role models and mentors, and less academic preparation.

References

  1. ↑ "Frequently Asked Questions". Brown Center for Students of Color. Brown University. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  2. ↑ "Center Spaces | Brown Center for Students of Color".
  3. ↑ https://www.brown.edu/campus-life/support/students-of-color/sites/brown.edu.campus-life.support.students-of-color/files/uploads/TWCstrategicplan.releaseSept2014_0.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  4. ↑ "Disturbances Exhibit".
  5. ↑ "Ray Heffner: 1966-1969 | Office of the President". Archived from the original on 2016-04-12. Retrieved 2016-03-29.
  6. ↑ "Brown Digital Repository | Collection | Brown Daily …".
  7. ↑ "TWC History at Brown | Brown Center for Students of Color".
  8. ↑ "Untitled Document".
  9. ↑ "Encyclopedia Brunoniana | Student protests".
  10. ↑ "Encyclopedia Brunoniana | Third World Center".
  11. ↑ http://students.brown.edu/aahistory/archives/files/third_world/1985/newspaper_articles/BDH19850410.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  12. ↑ "Partridge Hall | Brown 250". Archived from the original on 2015-10-07. Retrieved 2014-11-12.
  13. ↑ "Asian American History at Brown University | Archives".
  14. ↑ "Strategic Plan | Brown Center for Students of Color".
  15. ↑ "Mission Statement | Brown Center for Students of Color".
  16. ↑ "TWC History at Brown". Brown Center for Students of Color. Brown University. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  17. ↑ "Third World Transition Program (TWTP) | Brown Center for Students of Color".
  18. ↑ "TWTP largely unchanged despite presence of white students". 31 August 2006.
  19. ↑ "TWTP turns 40". 21 May 2009.
  20. ↑ "Jake Heimark '10: TWTP fails its mission". 3 September 2008.
  21. ↑ "Minority Peer Counselor Program (MPC)". Brown Center for Students of Color. Brown University. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  22. ↑ "Minority Peer Counselor Program (MPC) | Brown Center for Students of Color".
  23. ↑ "ALANA Mentoring Program | Brown Center for Students of Color". Archived from the original on 2016-04-13. Retrieved 2016-03-29.
  24. ↑ "Heritage Series | Brown Center for Students of Color".
  25. ↑ "Student Initiatives | Brown Center for Students of Color". www.brown.edu. Archived from the original on 2014-10-11.
  26. ↑ "TWC creates new name, mission". 11 September 2014.
  27. ↑ "TWC undergoes review, seeks expand campus reach". 24 October 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.