A NEWSLETTER OF THE AFRO·AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER VOLUME NO. a-ISSUE NO.2 Na thaniel Banks , Black Alumni Reunion Weekend Assistant Director, AACP This article was meant to be a factual The UIBAA is currently active in several to be here. We have all struggled monitarily presentati o n of the history, purpose, and areas. They publish a quarterl y newsletter just to stay in school o n a subsistence level, present acti vities of the Black Alumni which focuses on achievements of distin­ hoping that there would be some sort of Association' s Alumni Reunion weekend gui shed alumni; they host the annual Earl li ght at the end of the academic tunnel. coming October 26-27, 1984. You will get B. Dickerson Achievement award which Too many of us suffered through the all of that in formation shortly. As 1 began giv es scholarships to outstanding IIIini cur­ humiliati o n of being dropped from school writing, however, many nostalgic thoughts rently matriculating at the Champa ign Ur­ because we temporarily allowed the "party came to mind. If you don' t mind, the last bana campus. In addition, they give demon" to rule our thinking rather than the secti on of this piece wi ll be spent sharing scho larships to recipients of the Potential objecti ves and goals we set for o urselves. some thoughts of a hopeless sentimentali st. Leadership and Senior Past Performance More of us than will admi t came through The fact s: awards. Finally, several local fundraising the school havin g not had the foggiest no­ In 1977 a group of students thought it a efforts a re sponso red each year to finance ti o n of why we were here, let a lone wha t we good idea to host a weekend paying tribute the awards and the cost of mailings to would do when we graduated . to the Black Alumni of the Universit y of Il ­ U IBAA members. Through all the " smokers," "step prac­ linois. In 1980 that idea had become so pop­ The UIBAA currently has a Board of tices," organizational meetings, "rap ses­ ul ar, that the graduates decided to form a Directors consisting of 24 members. Those sions," confrontations, aggravati ons and Black Alumni Association. The association members are located in a ll major regions of exhultations, we learned valuable lessons on will hold its second reunion weekend this the continental United States. The U IBAA friendship, commitment a nd persevera nce. October 26-27, 1984. also has an executive board which does Unfortunately, most of those po sitive Having been through the ri gors of this most of the pl anning and ma il o uts for the lessons were learned while working with uni versity, Black alumni felt a need to have 2,000 member mailing li st. It is the ex­ other Black student s. It is those students the association address several areas of con­ ecutive board, in conjuncti on with the staff who need to come back together once in a cern pertaining to black students of the of the Afro-American C ul tural Program while to remember that strange period bet­ past, present , and future. The thrust of the who is responsible for the up-coming re­ ween young-adult hood a nd sho-nu ff organi zati on was and is as foll ows: union weekend. grown-up hood. To recognize and commend the Refl ections: The 1984 get together o f Black a lumni achievements of blacks that attend To answer the unasked question: why again promises to provide a few precious the U of I; have a " separate" black a lumni reunio n in moments from the hectic, humdrum, in­ the first place? The answer is simple, reall y. tense and often frustrating pressures of the To serve as a rall ying point for those The University of Ill inois is more than a who attended the U of 1 and to assist real world to all ow students, faculty, and piece o r pieces of paper. It is people and ex­ Alumni to share their bright mo ments once current students to meet the chal­ periences. People cause memories. Those more. Coll ege is perhaps the most stimulat­ lenges before them; memories are both good a nd bad . The bad ing time in our existence. This reunio n also To assist the universi ty to better ad­ memories in the past have been enough to gives Bl ack graduates a chance to tell an o ld dress the needs of blacks attending leave black alumni with the thought of friend " It 's good seeing you" and reall y theUof l; never in life returning to the U of I. An mean it. It 's a time to remember and ap­ To assist the university in addressing o rganization like the U IBAA a llows us to preciate the peaceful bliss of na ive students problems related to increasing the remember that, yeah , there were good times whose major concerns were test scores and black student and fac ult y population and long lasting friendships worth renewing boring the partys at the union building were attheUof l; every so often. becoming. Yeah. It 's good to do that once To serve as a resource bank to black We all have had to deal with the long dull in a while. It 's also fun. Besides, in two U of 1 attendees so as to establi sh a ache of being the "only one" in class after days it 's back to "the real world ." network for career opportunities class. We have all felt or heard callous pro­ throughout the United States of fessors supposed the be the great minds of America. the country act as if we were not supposed Statement of Goals University of Illinois at Urbana·Champaign Black Alumni Association Goal I Provide role models for all Bl ack 1. 2 Expose students to the achievements students in the professional schools University of Illinois Students of Black attendees and graduates by... and other st udents in identified oc­ a. Continuing the presentation of cupati onal areas 1.1 Ensure that st udents are exposed to Black faculty/ staff by... biennial alumni achi evement awards Goal2 Identify and explore new avenues to a. Establishing a talent bank for b. Using the newsletter to disseminate address the educational , financial and departments looking for "qualified" in fo rmation about Black graduates social needs of Black students atten­ Bl acks (maintain a liason with other and mailing it to UIUC students ding UIUC Bl ack al umni associations) 1.3 Involve members of the Association in 2.1 Establish and maintain a relationship b. Keeping members of IBHE, present ations at UIUC such as career with the Dean of Students at UIUC lesgislators, etc., apprised of th e days, workshops, etc. 2.2 Identify and assess th e needs and see k numbers of Black facult y/ staff 1.4 Establish mentor relationships with appropriate levels of authority who can address the identified needs son responsible for the admission of share the information 2.3 Identify ed ucational policies and prac­ minority student s (W. Washington) Goal5 Serve as a rallying point fo r those who tices that impact negative ly on Bl ac k attended the Universit y of Illinois st uden ts 3.5 Provide funds so that students can participate in campus activities and 5.1 Sponsor activities to promote social 2.4 Make cont act with Bl ack members of sports and become in volved in the life interaction among alumni (this will in­ th e Board o f Trustees . IBH E.the state o f the total campus clude some activities which are fund­ legi slat ure (part icul a rl y the Ed ucat ion raisers) Committ ee) . etc. 3.6 Address housing needs of fraternities and sororit ies 5.2 Hold biennual reunions in Urbana­ 2.5 Es tablish and maintain a rel ati onship Champaign 3.7 Plan and present a student retreat at with th e director o f the Afro­ Goal6 Raise funds to underwrite costs of American Cultural Cent er Allerton to focus on getting students in vo lved in campus activities program and operational expenses of 2.6 Via the alumni Greek organi zations, the Association lik y up with th e Bl ack sororities and 3.8 Work with hi gh school students re: computer lit eracy and it s importance 6.1 Substantiall y increase the amount of fratern iti es on campus funds generated through membership 2.7 Make fin ancial awards recognizing 3.9 Use student s in the professional pro­ solicitat ion by ... cam pus leaders (E. B. Di ckerson grams and recent graduates to provide a. Red ucing the basic dues to $5.00 award) orientation for new students entering with the int ent of generating 2000 particul ar programs 2.8 Establi sh a relati onship wit h students memberships (This would include a in athletic organi zations via former 3. IO Encourage students to es tablish exam directory of members) UIUC atheletes (advocacy/ ment or and paper files and arrange for perma­ b. Levying additional assessments for role) nent housin g (e.g. at the Afro­ those who wi sh to receive the newslet­ American Cult ural Center) ter. etc. Goal3 Become in vo lved III the recruitment 3.11 Use current students wh o have been 6.2 Identify "contributing" members who and retention o f Bl ack sllldents at id entified as " leaders" to se rve as con­ will pay a designated amount (e .g.