brochure: The Black presence at Penn State (19xx): Black students (African American students) general vertical files (00389)

article: Black activism at Penn State: Black life (University Park, Pa.)(Spring 1976)

While there have been many instances of student activism at Penn State over several decades, University Archives collections mainly document the period of activism from the late 1960s and early 1970s. The Black and White Behind the Blue and White: A History of Black Student Protests at Penn State (2002), a thesis by former student Robin Hoecker, provides a detailed history of student activism in 1948, 1960, 1968, 1979, 1988, and 2001. The collections detailed below include records related to Black student activism, Anti-war and anti-apartheid activism, as well as more recent community concerns.

• Robin Hoecker collection on Penn State Black student activism (2000-2001): This collection consists of photographs and scrapbooks created by then-Penn State student Robin Hoecker documenting the events of the 2000-2001 academic year which began with racist threats directed at the President of Penn State's Black Caucus, and culminated in the occupation of the HUB by hundreds of students over the course of ten days in late April and early May. "The Village," as it has since been known, was memorialized by Penn State in 2022 with a historical marker placed in the HUB. This collection includes the exhibition created by Robin for the HUB-Robeson Galleries.
• Eric Walker collection on Penn State Student Activism (1963-1986): Walker collected these materials in 1986 while writing a manuscript on the student activism and protests which occurred during his presidency. This collection chiefly documents Eric Walker's perspective and the administration's reaction to protests, demands, and demonstrations. This collection includes correspondence, draft injunctions, manuscripts, news clippings, notes, student demands, and timelines.
• Pennsylvania State University, Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs, student activism records (1965-1972): This collection documents student activism at Penn State during the late 1960s-early 1970s. The majority of this collection documents violent student protests in April 1970 and the resulting Woodside Commission disciplinary hearings. This collection documents Black student activism, Garfield Thomas Water Tunnel activism, and anti-Vietnam War activism. This collection includes clippings, correspondence, court documents, press releases, reports, and student protest materials. Researchers should note that this collection chiefly documents the Penn State administration's understanding of and response to student activism and does not necessarily reflect the perspectives of student activists.
• Allen Zollman Penn State student protest audio collection (1969-1970): This collection contains digitized versions of audio cassettes created by Allen O. Zollman. Zollman made these field recordings in 1969 and 1970 on Penn State's University Park campus. Recordings capture speeches, rallies, and marches totaling about four hours of running time.
• Penn State Educational Activism Archive: Documenting a century of student and faculty voices for change: The Penn State Educational Activism Archive aims to complicate and expand our historical knowledge of student and faculty activism at Penn State University. Launched in May of 2019, the site features University Archives collections. The site employs a wide definition of “activism,” including efforts to change the university through institutional pressure, letter-writing, petitions, sit-ins, speeches, picketing, and formal protest. Spanning movements regarding race, gender, sexuality, labor, and peace, the archive includes items capturing a century of social transformation. This archive was created with the help of Project STAND (Student Activism Now Documented), an online clearinghouse for researchers engaged in the study of student dissent.
• State College area protests collection (2017 - 2020): The collection contains eighteen posters created for protests and demonstrations regarding nationwide concerns, specifically anti-immigration policies and police brutality of Black people. Despite being created for different demonstrations, the posters share common themes of love, justice, and civic power. These posters were created by unknown persons in the State College area and collected by Special Collections personnel after the demonstrations concluded.
• Todd May collection on the Committee for Justice in South Africa: This is a small collection of newspaper articles and documents related to the efforts of the student group the Committee for Justice in South Africa to force Penn State University to divest itself of companies that were involved in the apartheid state in South Africa. The materials date from 1985 to 1987, a time when there was a great deal of global attention on the system’s injustices and growing external pressure to end it. The collection was assembled by Todd May, then a student at Penn State University who was active within the Committee. May went on to become a political philosopher and university instructor.

newsletter: Black Focus (1976) and school yearbook: Symbol (Strong-Young-Members-of-a-Black-Organized-League) (1988), both published by the Black Caucus at Penn State.

Groups Supporting Racial Equality

• Council for Racial Equality (CORE): The Council for Racial Equality was formed in the 1940s by members of the American Veterans Committee and the Penn State Christian Association in response to discrimination at local barber shops in State College. Their efforts intensified in the years after World War II, when they organized a boycott and raised money to establish a barbershop that would provide services to Black clientele. The CORE barbershop opened on September 30, 1949, on Beaver Avenue east of Allen Street.
  • Daily Collegian issues featuring articles or ads related to CORE
• Direct Action for Racial Equality (DARE): Direct Action for Racial Equity was a group established by Penn State students and campus ministers in the Spring of 1960 to address local housing discrimination. In 1960 and 1961, DARE's major effort was focused on asking for statements from other Penn State student groups in support of abolishing discriminatory membership clauses in fraternities and sororities. Most student organizations refused to support this effort.
  • Daily Collegian issues featuring articles related to DARE

Black Student Organizations

• Student Union for Racial Equality (SURE): SURE was founded by Penn State student Jacob Heyman in 1963. The organization described their purpose as the "promotion of equal rights and fair treatment for all races." Their constitution defined the ways they would pursue this mission, including through peaceful protest. The inaugural officers included Jacob Heyman (Chairman), Donald Bagby (Vice Chairman), Carroll Washington (Secretary) and Terry Hill (Treasurer). SURE was actively covered by the Daily Collegian from 1963-1967.
  • Daily Collegian issues featuring articles related to SURE
• Students for Black Unity: Daily Collegian articles from 1967 state that this student group formed in the Spring of 1967, and later protested a speech by Penn State President Eric Walker at a Model U.N. event, due to his executive appointment to an arms manufacturer (Melpar, Inc.) that was reported to be selling weapons in South Africa.
• Frederick Douglass Association and Black Student Union (1967-1971): Frederick Douglass Association was the name of the Black Student Union from 1967-1969, when its name was officially changed. During this period, the group petitioned university administration for increased Black student enrollment and academic support, organized demonstrations (including a halftime demonstration at a Penn State football game) and planned events like the Black Arts Festival. At the end of 1971, the Black Student Union merged with the Black Caucus.
  • The Black Caucus at Penn State University wikipedia page includes a detailed history of the groups, with references to specific Daily Collegian articles.
  • Eric Walker collection on Penn State Student Activism (1963-1986): Collection includes the administration's reaction to protests, demands, and demonstrations.
  • Pennsylvania State University, Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs, student activism records (1965 - 1972): This collection documents student activism at Penn State during the late 1960s-early 1970s. The majority of this collection documents violent student protests in April 1970 and the resulting Woodside Commission disciplinary hearings.
  • Carol Merrill-Bright papers (1967-1970): This collection from former Penn State student Carol Merrill-Bright includes documentation on the efforts of the Black Student Union (formerly the Frederick E. Douglass Association) and civil rights events on campus.
  • Pennsylvania State University, Black Alumni oral history collection: This collection consists of oral history recordings and transcripts with African American alumni who attended Penn State University between 1968-1973.
  • The Year Behind, The Year Ahead (1969): This WPSX news program focuses on the Penn State student protests in 1968-1969.
• Black Student Union and Black Caucus: Please view the archival search results for "Black Student Union" and the archival search for "Black Caucus" to locate materials scattered throughout various University Archives collections. Please note that the search term "Black Caucus" may also reveal non-Penn State related sources.

• Youth for the Advancement of Black students (YABS): Black Power conference, sponsored by SURE (January 1967) 
• Black Student League (Ogontz) (1970)
• Black Student Coalition Against Racism (1986)
• Strong-Young-Members-of-a-Black-Organized-League (SYMBOL) (1988)
• Undertones (LGBTQIA students of color) (2005): Undertones was established to provide a safe and supportive environment within the larger Penn State community to focus on the distinct needs of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, ally, and queer (LGBTAQ) community of color.

brochure: The Black presence at Penn State (19xx); Black students (African American students) general vertical files (00389)

The number of historically Black fraternities and sororities at Penn State has fluctuated over time. According to a 2020 article in the Daily Collegian, at its peak in the 1980s and 1990s, eight of the Divine 9 were represented at the university. The University Archives preserves the organizational records of one fraternity (Omega Psi Phi, Nu chapter), and maintains subject files for many others.

• Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Nu Chapter records (1921-1998): The Nu chapter of Omega Psi Phi is Penn State's oldest Black fraternity, founded in 1921 with 8 members. The collection consists of the Omega Psi Phi, Nu Chapter constitution and bylaws, financial information, reports, and information and paperwork relating to the Miss Black Penn State pageant. This collection is restricted to fraternity members only.
  • Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, black-and-white photographs (1948-1969)
  • The history of the Omega psi phi fraternity: a brotherhood of Negro college men, 1911 to 1939 / by Herman Dreer (found in Blockson Collection)
  • The Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and the men who made its history: a concise history / by Robert L. Gill (found in Blockson Collection)
  • First appearance in La Vie yearbook
• Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Gamma Nu Chapter
  • First appearance in La Vie (1947)
  • Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity: black-and-white photographs (1948-1978)
• Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Delta Theta Chapter
  • First appearance in La Vie (1951)
  • Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity: black-and-white photographs (1951-1969)
• Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Delta Gamma Chapter
  • First appearance in La Vie (1953)
  • Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority: black-and-white photographs (1953-1981)
  • Building traditions: African American heritage (La Vie, 1988)
• Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Epsilon Gamma Chapter
  • First appearance in La Vie (1957)
  • Delta Sigma Theta Sorority: black-and-white photographs (1964-1969)
  • Building traditions: Delta Sigma Theta's Stepping Out (La Vie, 1988); 
  • Building traditions: A united Black community (1988)
• Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Mu Eta Chapter
  • First appearance in La Vie (1976) (Blue and White club established 1971)
  • Zeta Phi Beta Sorority: color photographs (1982-1999)
• Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity (1979)
  • Phi Beta Sigma: color photographs (2006-2008)
• Sigma Gamma Rho (1988)
  • Greek Beat: Innovators (La Vie, 1990)
• Beta Phi Pi Fraternity (2002)
• Iota Phi Theta (2008)

Aquarius magazine (1969) : Carol Merrill-Bright papers (10057)

The publications listed below are primarily those focused on or created by Black students. These publications are being digitized and will be accessible online via the Black Life and Visual Culture digital collection. Additional information about student life can be found in well-known publications like the Daily Collegian newspaper and La Vie yearbooks, both of which have been digitized and are available online.

• Scram! (1968): [digitized version available] published by Penn State's Black Student Union. The Carol Merrill-Bright papers (10057) contain issues of the Scram! newsletter.
• Aquarius magazine (1969): [digitized version available] produced by the Black Student Union in celebration of the Black Arts Festival, Aquarius magazine contained student poetry and essays. The Carol Merril-Bright papers (10057) contain Aquarius magazine.
• The Black eye: liberation thru communication (1970): [digitized version available] published by Penn State's Black Student Union and edited by Bill Broadwater, this publication documents protests, anti-fascism movements, the Black Panthers, and other news pertaining to Black college students in the early 1970s. Two issues.
• Focus on Black (1971-1972): [digitized issues available] Bi-monthly free publication from the 1970s, edited by Robert L. Simmons. Includes local, state, and national news pertaining to Black students.
• Black life (1974-1982): [digitized issues available] Periodical for Black students at Penn State. Includes editorials, local and regional news (including news on activism), student poetry, information on Black faculty, student life, the Black Studies Department, Black organizations (including the Black Student Union, the Black Caucus, and Greek organizations), and cultural and social events in (including the Black Arts Festival).
• The Drum : the Black Caucus Newsletter (1976; 1982-1983; 1988-1990; 1997; 2000): "The Drum is a biweekly newsletter published by the Communications Committee of the Black Caucus. The purpose of The Drum is to provide a source of communication throughout the African American community. The Drum urges all to contribute in this unification effort by submitting articles, poems, and opinions." These archival collections contain issues of The Drum newsletter: Pennsylvania State University, Office of Student Activities records (01392); Pennsylvania State University, Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs (01379); Pennsylvania State University, College of Health and Human Development records (00423); Lambda Student Alliance records (00558).
• Mahogany (1987): Published by the Communications Committee of the Black Caucus, Mahogany was a magazine for the Black student.
• SYMBOL (Strong-Young-Members-of-a-Black-Organized-League) (1988): [digitized version available] SYMBOL was created by a group of Black students in the spring of 1987, working under the Black Caucus. The Symbol publication is comprised of activities and events that have occurred throughout the academic school year by the African - descendant community.
• Sovereign: Penn State's first magazine for students of color (2019-present): Sovereign magazine began publishing in Fall 2015, and became recognized as an official student group in 2016. University Archives only holds from issue 7 onward.
• Garfield Thomas Water Tunnel (1969-1970): While not specific to Black student life, this underground newspaper at Penn State focused on student activism on campus.
• Penn State Journal: a digest of recent news events from The Pennsylvania State University (1968-1970): [digitized issues available]

brochure : Black, the Penn State Black Scholars program (19xx), Black students (African American students) general vertical files (00389)

While many graduate theses document the experience, identity and pride of Black students at predominantly white universities, these in particular focus on experiences at Penn State.

• Navigating Anti-Black Racism : How Black Collegians Experience the Racial Climate at a Predominantly White Institution (2022), Alex Kenney; LaWanda Wynette Ward : Black students at predominantly white institutions (PWIs) experience the racial climate negatively. Despite heightened commitments to racial justice following the murder of George Floyd in May of 2020, anti-Black racial incidents remain commonplace. Now more than ever, research is needed to understand how Black collegians at PWIs experience institutional offerings designed to address racial climate issues. Otherwise, diversity efforts may serve merely as racial symbols and obscure structural and systemic racism. Drawing upon Critical Race Theory (CRT), this study addresses the following research questions: (a) how do Black collegians who engage in diversity programming experience the psychological climate at a large PWI? and (b) in what ways, if any, does participation in such programming shape how they experience the psychological climate.
• Supporting African American Owned Businesses Through Higher Education : New Directions for The Pennsylvania State University's Farrell Center for Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship (2021), Zara Moss : The purpose of this thesis is to identify the most significant challenges faced by Black or African American business owners, and then form recommendations on how the Farrell Center for Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Pennsylvania State University can most effectively support Black or African American business owners in overcoming those challenges.
• Teaching in the Midst of Crisis : One Student Teacher's Experience During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Spiraling Political Tensions, and Systemic Racial Injustice (2021), Devon Preston : Through an autoethnographic approach, the author examines their own student teaching endeavors amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, political tensions resulting from the 2020 Presidential Elections, and the systemic racial injustice being addressed in the United States through the Black Lives Matter movement.
• Unless We're Singing or Dancing, We Are Not Going to Be Represented in the Media : Stereotyping of African Americans in Penn State Student News Coverage (2019), Alexis Collins : This research is grounded in the efforts of national media platforms to better portray African Americans to the public and increase staff diversity. Furthermore, this thesis examines whether the coverage of African American students by Penn State student media organizations reflect a lack of diversity on their staffs.
• The Nature and Prevalence of Cyber-Aggression Targeting African-Americans on Twitter (2018), Jordan Lawson; Diane Helen Felmlee : This study investigates and analyzes racially-charged cyber-aggressive tweets targeting African-Americans on the social media platform, Twitter.
• BLUEprint for self-authorship : A case study exploration of a peer mentoring program (2017), John Anthony Allegro : BLUEprint is a peer mentoring program coordinated by the Paul Robeson Cultural Center at the University Park campus of Penn State.
• Perceptions of the Glass Ceiling : An Assessment of Penn State Students' Opinion on Gender and Racial Barriers in Higher Level Career Positions (2015), Kimberly Donovan : This research focuses on the presence of the glass ceiling by asking respondents to evaluate the job and family experiences of an individual with the same life story. The only thing that varied is whether the person in the vignette was male or female and Black or white.
• An Investigation of Faculty Influence on Psychosocial Variables Affecting the Persistence of African American Students at Pennsylvania State University (2010), Shakoor A. Ward : The study investigated the relevance of psychosocial variables as they relate to the persistence of African American students at a predominantly white university (PWU).
• The Black and White Behind the Blue and White : A History of Black Student Protests at Penn State (2002), Robin Hoecker : Black student protests occur at Penn State on an approximate ten-year cycle that began as early as 1948, with major disturbances in 1960, 1968, 1979, 1988, and 2001. This study used document analysis to examine each set of protests with regard to the national context, the racial climate at the university, the initial cause, the chronology of events, and the results. This historical perspective reveals many similarities among the demonstrations, and establishes a pattern. Some possible causes for the protests are the demographic characteristics of Pennsylvania, the rural location of the university, and the failure of the majority white community to understand alienation felt by many Black students. A photo-documentary of events from the 2000-01 academic year shows the personal struggles of the Black students involved and emphasizes the need for university and community action.
• Sisters on a sojourn : young Black women making the transition from high school to college (2000), Teraya D. White : The intent of this guide is to assure young Black women that they can succeed in college.
• An analysis of rhetorical strategies in the recruitment literature directed to prospective Black student populations at The Pennsylvania State University (1991), Ronald Vincent Pierre Rodgers : This study was designed to determine the persuasive strategies of recruitment materials sent to prospective Black undergraduates at the University Park campus of the Pennsylvania State University. The analysis was limited to the recruitment literature used during the 1989-1990 academic year.
• The impact of race and gender on graduate school socialization, satisfaction with graduate study and commitment to completion of the degree among Black and White doctoral students (1988), Evelynn M. Ellis : This study investigated differences in the graduate school experiences of Black/African American women and men and White women and men. The study explored whether any identified differences influenced graduate school socialization, satisfaction with graduate study or commitment to completing the doctoral degree, specifically for Black women.
• Factors that influenced black athletes to accept athletic scholarships from the Pennsylvania State University (1988), Darren Joel Hamilton : This study investigated the factors that influenced Black athletes to accept athletic scholarships from the Pennsylvania State University between the years 1984 and 1988.
• Participation in the Black Christian Fellowship and academic performance of Black students at The Pennsylvania State University, 1972-1973 (1981), Leon B. Hall : Findings are reported for a study of participation in the "Black Christian Fellowship" and academic performance for a sample of 200 Black students at the Pennsylvania State University. 
• Reference groups and orientations of Black students in a predominantly white university (1977), Benjamin J. Roberts : One hundred and forty-eight male and female undergraduate students at the Pennsylvania State University from higher or lower socioeconomic backgrounds and differing campus reference groups participated as volunteers in a study of Black student attitudes on issues important to the Black university community.

brochure: Black, the Penn State Black Scholars program (19xx); Black students (African American students) general vertical files (00389)

The collections included here speak broadly to issues of student governance at Penn State, and contain many records speaking to social and political topics of importance to University students.

• Undergraduate Student Government (USG) records (1906-2006): contains the constitution and bylaws of Penn State's student government organization, as well as minutes, reports, newspaper clippings, correspondences, and other documentation dating to its dissolution in 2006. Included are records on many campus social issues. There have been three Black students elected as President of USG, including Rufus "Seth" Williams (1988-1989), Theodore "Ted" Thompson (1969-1970) and Jesse Arnelle (1953-1954).
• University Park Undergraduate Association records (2004-2022): The University Park Undergraduate Association was founded in 2006 in concert with the dissolution of the Undergraduate Student Government (USG).
• Pennsylvania State University, Council of Commonwealth Student Governments records (1976-2015): contains the constitution of each of the 19 commonwealth student governments, meeting minutes, correspondence, financial reports, plans, and handbooks.