University of Delaware Office of Public Relations The Messenger Vol. 5, No. 3/1996 CBC celebrates 20 years Listening to people who have been part of the Center for Black Culture during its 20 years on campus is like listening to a family reminisce after Thanksgiving dinner. No matter when they studied at the University of Delaware, be it the '70s, '80s or '90s, they share common memories of the center and describe it using similar words: "haven," "safe place," "home away from home." "Over the years, the center has been a gathering place," says Janice Jordan, Delaware '75M, associate director of the University's Center for Counseling and Student Development. "Before the center, black students didn't have anywhere else just to be " Jordan explains. "We were a small community, and everyone pretty much knew everyone else. Sometimes, just walking in the center made you feel like you belonged. People have always been able to come through the center if they're looking for someone, and chances are that person will either be there or someone will know where they are." Jordan, who came to the University in 1971 to work in the Upward Bound program, had an office in the center in its earliest years, when it was called the Minority Center and, later, Ujaama House. Gwen Anderson, Delaware '86, agrees. At times on campus then, she recalls, "you could have the feeling of not belonging, of not being wanted or heard by administrators or fellow students, but the center was always a safe place. This was the homestead. Whenever you had a break from classes, you'd walk in here to relax, watch television or just talk. "Inside the center, all of our faces were similar," says Anderson, an operations manager with the state of Delaware's Department of Health and Human Resources. Tim Foxx, Delaware '92, echoes her sentiments, "This was a place where you felt like you really belonged. The people at the center were always like family." Foxx, who works in the city of Wilmington, Del., planning department, saw progressive changes at the center in the early '90s when its mission expanded to include more campus programming and special programs that promote student leadership. The idea was to use the Center for Black Culture as the mouthpiece for the black community on campus and in the surrounding area, through activities sponsored by the Cultural Programming Advisory Board, he says. "We sponsored the first all-rap concert on campus," Foxx recalls. "We weren't sure if the entire student body would support it, but they did. The tickets sold out in a week, and people of every race, creed and color showed up. Everything at the concert and the after-party went well. We felt like that was a turning point." When the interview for this story was conducted, Jordan, Anderson and Foxx were looking excitedly toward the center's reunion, planned for mid-April. Special events included an art show and panel discussion on "The Value of African-American Art in Our Community," a luncheon with poet Nikki Giovanni, the annual Richard Wilson Step Show and the annual Gospelrama, featuring the University of Delaware Gospel Choir and James Hall Worship & Praise of New York. But, mostly, what these members of the planning committee were looking forward to was a chance to say hi, sit, chat and catch up with all those "family" members they hadn't seen for years. "I think there'll be a lot of hugging and laughing that weekend," Jordan said. "We may decide to make this 'reunion' an annual event." -Beth Thomas