Four African-American SJU graduates to speak at panel discussion

Research, an old yearbook photo and a conversation helped shape an upcoming panel discussion at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University.

“We’ve only Just Begun: Student Experiences During the 1970s” features four African-American SJU graduates who will speak about their experiences and activities on campus during the 1970s, as well as how their time at CSB and SJU influenced their lives, at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 28, at the Stephen B. Humphrey Theater, SJU.

The panel discussion, which is free and open to the public, includes:

• Ronald Morris, class of 1970 and the administrative director of corporate security at TriHealth in Cincinnati;
• Lewis Nixon ’71, the supervising Circuit Court judge for Cook County in Chicago who formerly was an assistant U.S. attorney in Chicago;
• Charles Bush ’75, an elementary school educator for the past 20 years. He previously worked as a caseworker for the elderly;
• John Adams ’77, the chief financial officer of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition in Chicago. He was the first African-American SJU graduate to pass the CPA examination.

The panel will be moderated by Ken Jones, professor of history who has taught at CSB and SJU since 1976.

Jonathan Nash, assistant professor of history at CSB and SJU, helped organize the event. Like any history teacher would, he did his research and interviewed people who were familiar with the issue.

“I first thought about organizing the event after a colleague showed me (CSB/SJU archivist) Peggy Roske’s research about on-campus civil rights activism,” Nash said. “From there, I asked my colleague Ken Jones to tell me what he knew.”

In 1968, when there were about 25 African-American students on campus, they founded the Organization for Afro-American Students (O.A.A.S.) to develop black unity and promote black culture in the community. A year later, their request for monetary support led to the establishment of the Black Student Culture Center.

Nash was particularly interested in learning more about the black students who organized a sit-in at SJU President the Rev. Colman Barry’s office on Nov. 11, 1970. Earlier that day, black students presented “A Proposal Concerning Black Survival” to Barry.

“With the help of Peggy, her assistants and a History Department student worker, we started to learn more about the people in a photograph of O.A.A.S. members from the 1970 (Sagatagan) yearbook,” Nash said.

“From my perspective, this event will highlight the college experiences and activities of these distinguished alumni during a time when Saint John’s and central Minnesota were very white places,” Nash said. “In addition, the event will provide an opportunity for the alumni to share how they think their experiences at SJU shaped their lives.”

A generous donation from alumnus Charles Harvey ’74 and his spouse Cheryl made the event possible. Co-sponsors of the event are the CSB/SJU History Department, Intercultural and International Student Services and the Eugene J. McCarthy Center for Public Policy and Civic Engagement.

Besides the panel discussion, the alumni will have a dinner with student leaders, attend a lunch open to all community members, visit with CSB President Mary Dana Hinton and SJU President Michael Hemesath and be interviewed by Roske.

They will also meet with Brandyn Woodard, director of Intercultural and International Student Services at CSB and SJU, to learn more about his office and the “valuable services it provides to our students,” Nash said.