Browse Exhibits (1 total)

Item # 308: "Westhampton's YWCA Is Involved," The Collegian, 1971. 

This exhibit looks at representations of students of color at the University of Richmond between 1946 and 1971 along with student anti-racist advocacy. We use the phrase "students of color" to refer to African American, Latino/a, and Asian student. In so doing, we acknowledge that these students did not share a singular experience as minorities at a predominantly white university. 

Despite the presence of students of color during this period, many of their experiences are not reflected in the documents from which the exhibit draws. Many of the students voicing their opinions on racism and desegregation were themselves white. Typically students of color are discussed from an outsider's perspective, presented and written about by white students and administrators, whose opinions had a wide and often conflicting range. Despite rarely having their own voice in the university's history, there are examples of students of color creating a space and expressing themselves despite the white majority. There is evidence of the development of a racial consciousness to create a more inclusive and welcoming environment.  

In her essay "Expanding the Ivory Tower: Radicalism and Black Student Life at the University of Richmond", Victoria Charles explores how black students became activists at the University of Richmond. She argues, "The black students that started entering the University of Richmond were radical because they shifted the existing student organizations, the aims of the administration, and racial demographics of the school. The decision to come to Richmond despite its image and the racial turmoil occurring in the world was bold. Once black students were settled in at the university they joined social organizations and sports teams and effectively sprinkled black faces and black perspectives onto formerly all-white spaces."  Students were able to change the progression of the University by fighting for their voices to be heard with the help of other students on campus. This exhibit will eventually be expanded to capture the voices of these students.

This exhibit explores the representation of students of color and anti-racist advocacy, as reflected in the Collegian, alumni bulletins, and university correspondence. Additional work developing content on the experiences of students of color to come.