Robert Foster arrived at Ball State University in 1969 with one goal -- to help black students feel comfortable in a predominately Caucasian community.
About a year later, the now retired assistant professor of continuing education opened an office in the basement of the L.A. Pittenger Student Center. He later moved the Office of Special Programs to McKinley Avenue. In that office, now known as the Multicultural Center, the Black Student Association was formed.
Through BSA's more than 30-year push to challenge the status quo, an increasing number of black students are embracing their heritage during Black History Month and are encouraging other groups to do the same, Terry Frazier, assistant director of Student Organizations and Activities, said.
"People are just definitely interested in it and definitely want to know more about it," Frazier said.
Black Student Association
When Foster opened the Office of Special Programs in today's Multicultural Center house, a small group of students decided to form BSA because they wanted an organization specifically tailored to their needs.
"They wanted to be a voice," Foster said, "and through being an organization interested in that subject area, we had students who wanted to be part of it."
At the time, black students nationwide were treated as second-class citizens, and many students arranged sit-ins in administration buildings to protest the unfair conditions on their college campuses, Foster said.
"We set up students in an office like my office to keep them out of the president's office," Foster said.
Convincing Ball State's Student Affairs Office that BSA needed a budget was definitely a challenge, he said.
Payne, who has been at the university since 1972, said BSA didn't fit into the university structure in the 1970s and 1980s and was treated as an appendage, as were other minority organizations.
"It always had a degree of controversy with it," Payne said. "It really hasn't been something that's been totally embraced by a majority of the community."
Nonetheless, Radford is proud of the black movement of the mid-20th century and the success of BSA in the past three decades, he said.
"One thing I love about the Black Student Association is that we stand up for what's right even if the right thing is unpopular or even controversial," Radford said. "Hopefully in the present and future we will continue to stand up for the same values."
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
During his five years at Ball State, Frazier said he's seen that more black students today actually value their history as much as their ancestors did in the past, if not more.
"I've definitely seen an increase in the number of people, as far as the attendance of programs," Frazier said.
Faculty and staff have also included more multicultural events in their curricula during the past two years. This definitely encourages students of other backgrounds to step out of their comfort zone and attend Black History Month programs, Frazier said.
BSA is sponsoring 16 out of 20 events during the next few weeks. Highlight events for the month include a theatrical performance titled "The World is My Home: The Life and Time of Paul Robeson" at 8 p.m. Thursday in the Student Center Tally and keynote speaker Najee Mohammad on Feb. 17. Black History 101 seminars and an Essence Cafe will also take place.
The variety of events will provide students with a number of entertaining and educational opportunities to learn black history, Cameron Radford, vice president of BSA and Black History Month chairman, said.
"We kind of see Black History Month as the crown jewel of our whole year," Radford said. "It's an opportunity where we reach out to the rest of the campus and let them know what's going on in the black community locally, internationally and nationwide."
Many students, however, don't value their history or the month as much as they should, Charles Payne, professor of secondary education and Ball State's first black professor, said.
"I think Black History Month is as much politics as it is academics," Payne said. "There are a lot of people who make a lot of money out of Black History Month. It's an economic vehicle for some people."
Instead of treating the month as an isolated event, black history should be spread throughout the curricula for students year-round, he said.
"I wish they valued it more and at the same time, I have to acknowledge that they didn't experience what I did," Payne said. "I think (many) Americans -- white, black, red, brown -- don't appreciate the struggles of Americans to get to where we are."
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