40 Years of Movement

It started out as a voice. Then it became a stance. Now the Black Student Movement has become an integral part of campus that is very much alive.

BSM is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a week of festivities that commemorate the group's beginnings.

When a tightknit group of black students met in November 1967 to discuss the low number of black students attending UNC, it spurred a conversation about inclusiveness and diversity. The students formed BSM and worked to remedy this imbalance, becoming a bulwark of support for campus diversity and mobilizing actively throughout the late 1960s.

The group delivered 22 demands Dec. 11, 1968, to then-Chancellor J. Carlyle Sitterson. The demands forced the University to address racial issues. Sitterson agreed to some of them, including the creation of an African-American studies department.

With Sitterson's recognition of the group's influence, BSM cemented its role as a voice for black students.

"It was a fight that started to open people's eyes," BSM President Derek Sykes said. "They needed that initial spark."

Although black students had a voice, they still struggled against institutionalized segregation.

On South Campus, where most black students were housed, the Upendo Lounge of Chase Hall became a gathering place, eventually known as the Black Student Union.

Although Chase Hall was torn down about two years ago to make way for the Student and Academic Services Buildings, officials designated a new Upendo multipurpose room in the north building.

The group, which has grown to about 400 members, will march from the Upendo room to South Building at 5:30 p.m. today in recognition of the forbearers of BSM.

Members of BSM's political action committee organized a forum held Tuesday called "Carolina History in Color," which explored the meaning of diversity.

Provost Bernadette Gray-Little spoke to about 40 attendees about how she perceives BSM's campus influence, as well as her personal experience with diversity at UNC since she arrived in 1971.

"BSM made UNC a place for black students to be and to prosper," she said. "It is, and always has been, a force to deal with. I thank you for participating in it and for the contribution that you make in the campus."

In a departure from its historical political aims, BSM has been making efforts to move beyond solely empowering black students and has enlarged its goals to include increasing campus diversity beyond race. The group now aims to include in its reach varying socioeconomic and ethnic groups.

In the discussion session portion of the Wednesday event, several students said they hope that diversity will stretch beyond differences in race to become a comparison of differences in individuals.

"I think when we think of diversity we think about race, but it's about more than just that," said Maya Mitchell, co-chairwoman of the political action committee. "It's about things like class as well. . It's all about meeting people and networking with them."

Gray-Little emphasized the importance of reaching out to create a diverse campus today.

"I think it's normal for us to want to be around people like us," she said, speaking of the tendency to self-segregate. "So then the task is to recognize the commonality between people."

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.