Browse Exhibits (19 total)

In both the past and the present, University of Richmond social life has been dominated by Greek life. This exhibit aims to present evidence of racism in fraternities from 1947-1985 that created an exclusionary atmosphere for students of color, particularly black students. Whether it is Confederate flags displayed in Greek lodges, fraternity members in blackface, or culturally appropriative costumes and party themes, fraternities clearly exhibited racist behavior even as the University began to integrate and admit black students to the main campus in 1968. These photos were published in the University of Richmond yearbooks, which normalizes these racist actions and shows how representative they were of the University of Richmond experience. These artifacts bring into question the comfort of public racism at the University as these racist items were published in yearbooks well past the period of integration and into the 1980s.

The University's struggle to comply with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and these yearbooks that display racism in fraternities give a glimpse into what life was like for black students who were admitted to a University that struggled to create an inclusive environment. Black students in the 1970s and '80s struggled with the absence of a social life for black students and experiences of racial prejudice from students and faculty. The first black fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma, joined the University of Richmond in 1980. Prior to this, there were eleven fraternities on campus, and only one black student was a part of Greek life.

Understanding racism in the University’s past can help us navigate issues of racism in the present such as cultural appropriation in costumes and themed parties, contemporary blackface, and the black doll noose incident in 2008. Confronting the racism of this University’s past can help us understand the current issue of going beyond numerical diversity to inclusion at the University of Richmond, and it can help us navigate a future where different cultures and backgrounds are celebrated not just at this University but in the city of Richmond as well. 

Lost Cause Ideology

These fraternity pages frequently exhibit Lost Cause imagery and ideology with Confederate flags, fraternity group photos on Monument Avenue, and references to Robert E. Lee, the Old South, and the song “Dixie.” Lost Cause ideology has its roots in the justification and glorification of the Civil War as a noble cause embodying Southern ideals. This kind of reasoning hides the role of white supremacy and racism as those who hold to Lost Cause ideology often minimize or deny the role of slavery in the Civil War. Believers in the Lost Cause assert that the war was fought over states’ rights and that slavery was a benevolent institution that civilized African “savages” and brought them to Christianity. 

Monument Avenue

Photographs of fraternity members posing in front of the Monument Avenue statues of Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee highlight the Lost Cause ideology that these statues stand for and symbolize. The erecting of Confederate monuments on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia is an example of how the Lost Cause uses public space to create a celebratory and glorified rhetoric of the Confederate cause while ignoring the realities of slavery, lynching, and racism. The first statue erected was Robert E. Lee in 1890, followed by Jefferson Davis and J. E. B. Stuart in 1907, Stonewall Jackson in 1919, and Matthew Fountaine Maury in 1929. In 1996, a statue of Arthur Ashe, a black tennis player and Richmond native, was erected on Monument Avenue. The current debate over what to do with these statues on Monument Avenue confronts us with the painful legacy of slavery and an unbalanced history.

Blackface

Numerous photographs in the yearbooks show students in blackface, which is when a non-black person wears makeup to represent a caricature of a black person that is often used to mock and ridicule. Blackface was historically performed exclusively for white audiences with a nonblack performer appearing in blackface to play a black role. Minstrelsy and blackface performances were common forms of entertainment on the University of Richmond’s campus in the early 1900s through the early 1960s. Although minstrel shows do not really happen anymore in the present day, contemporary blackface still exists as evidenced by the incident of a blackface Halloween costume on campus in 2007. 

This exhibit was created by Kristi Mukk ('19) as part an A&S Summer Research Fellowship in summer 2018. 

“ A petition was drawn and sent to the Board of Trustees and the President asking for no discrimination against any race at any future interracial affair. Today this petition is being given the well known cold shoulder by everyone involved.” - University of Richmond Collegian newspaper, 1944. 

Russell Jones

On February 16, 1944, Russell Jones, an African-American Virginia Union University student, was forced to dine separately from white students at the University of Richmond. Russell Jones was the former chairman of the Richmond Intercollegiate Council -- a council formed by students from several Virginia institutions such as: Virginia Union, Richmond Professional Institute and Medical College of Virginia (now known collectively as Virginia Commonwealth University), the University of Richmond and more.  One of the main goals of the RIC, as Jones himself described, was to “... get closer understanding among the students of the colleges in this city, and especially between the students of the two races…” (Collegian, 1944). Part of this effort was an event in which Jones was invited by the Young Women’s Christian Association to speak on the University of Richmond campus. Following his speech, Russell Jones found himself barred, amidst student protest, from joining the students for a meal because of his race.

Speaking through Silence

This exhibit will focus on how the Russell Jones’ case both influenced, and was already part of, a larger conversation at the University of Richmond. During the time that Jones was separated from the white students, the University of Richmond had yet to allow African-American students to attend. It was not until 1968 when the first residential African-American student was allowed to attend an integrated University of Richmond. To examine these conversations, however, we must acknowledge that one voice is missing from the story: the voice of Russell Jones himself.  The lack of documentation prevents this exhibit from telling Russell Jones’ story, and it must instead use Jones’ case as a lens through which we explore the conversations on race that happened amongst the students and administration at UR -- both those for and against bettering race relations between whites and African Americans.

Evidence

This exhibit will feature a variety of sources. Articles from the Collegian newspaper, correspondence between the students and administration -- namely president F.W. Boatwright, Dean May Keller, Board of Trustees, etc. -- and local news and events, such as the Virginius Dabney Proposal, will be utilized in order to deconstruct the conversations on race that were happening during this time. The metadata suggests a number of opposing views influenced by gender, religion, and age. Yet, we recognize that we are limited by the availability of source material. Therefore, we acknowledge that we cannot fully represent the mindset of the Richmond campus during this time. However, with our evidence, we can develop an improved understanding of the complex relationships of race at the University of Richmond.  

References

"Come On, Kids, Let's Snooze." The Richmond Collegian XXX, no. 12, (April 14, 1944): 2. http://collegian.richmond.edu/cgi-bin/richmond?a=d&d=COL19440414.2.11&srpos=2&e=01-01-1939-31-12-1945--en-20--1--txt-txIN-negro+speaker-ARTICLE-----#

"Intercollegiate Council Seeks Active Members." The Richmond Collegian XXX, no. 8, (February 8, 1944): 1. http://collegian.richmond.edu/cgi-bin/richmond?a=d&d=COL19440218.2.2&srpos=6&e=------194-en-20--1--txt-txIN-RIC----1944--#

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.

Introduction (1970 -1973):

The University of Richmond’s black student integration experience is a tale of feet dragging by the University administration, threats of defunding from the federal government, and some resistance from the student body.  University of Richmond jumped through hurdles to avoid integration and maintain federal funding after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, complete with creating University College to cater to the “nontraditional” student. In 1968 the University of Richmond had its first full time black student enrolled in Richmond College, Barry Greene. Black students at UR had to fight to cultivate spaces for themselves where their opinions were acknowledged as legitimate, and their experiences were not discredited within the predominately white institution.

In 1971 an article was published by the Collegian called, “Product of Neglect: The Absence of A Black Social Life,” in which students addressed the need for more black students on campus, claiming that students had to travel to neighboring universities for a social life. At the time of the article there were ten black men and three black women enrolled at UR.  University of Richmond branded itself as a white, Baptist, local, private university. As a result, it had trouble recruiting black students. Articles from the Collegian however, push for greater consideration on the amount of effort that was put into black student recruitment past what was necessary to receive federal funding. In 1973 the Collegian published an article called "Registrars Seek to Overcome 150 Years Of Black Exclusion." In the article the Director of Admissions at Westhampton College, Mary Allen Anderson, said, “We have more applicants now than we will ever have beds for, thus there is really no sensible reason for an active recruiting program.” In the same article, however it says that Richmond College participated in Project Access and the National Scholarship for Negro Students list in an attempt to recruit students.

Racism was not eradicated with the admission of the first black students to UR.  In 1971 the Richmond College Student Government Association (RCSGA) passed a resolution for the school band to stop playing Dixie at university functions. The song Dixie was born out of blackface minstrel shows and became the unofficial battle song of the Confederacy. The song is a symbol of segregation and slavery. The resolution was overturned however by a majority of the student body claiming the song was of “traditional historic value” according to an article called “366 Students Cheer ‘Dixie’,” published in 1971. Black students continued to feel ostracized by the song. Norman Williams claimed that the song reminded him of the Old south, slavery, and bondage. Instead of the University getting involved and distancing itself from symbols of the Confederacy, Thomas N. Pollard Jr., the Richmond College Registrar, in response to black students saying they would not have come to UR had they heard the song played on campus before their admission, said that black recruits would never find out the song is played, calling it a “so-so” issue.  Pollard’s response exemplifies the University’s indifference and lack of interest in creating an environment where black students were welcomed.

Not only did black students have to fight for acknowledgment and legitimacy from the administration, but also from their fellow peers. G. Edmond Massie in a Collegian Forum published in 1971 called “Bigotry from a Minority,” said, “The current furor over the playing of “Dixie” and any display of the Confederate flag…Both supposedly representing “racism” … is a prime example of bigotry in its most potent form: a minority attempting to force its will on the majority.” Additionally, 366 students voted against the Dixie resolution believing the song was of historical value while only 276 voted for it. Although the vote in support of Dixie won, almost half of the student body supported black students and voted against it.

Black students did not have spaces for themselves on campus where their feelings, opinions, and right to be students were not questioned. There were no black faculty or administrators on campus; the only black adult face students would have seen would have been the custodians or the gardeners. This exhibit will explore the acts of activism, intentional or not,  by black students through their experience at UR in their creation of clubs and organizations. Additionally, it will explore the tension that existed between black students and the administration in their attempt to be integrated into the campus.

In recent years there have been controversies surrounding one Westhampton College’s most cherished events: Ring Dance. In 2015, the University changed the some of its policies surrounding Ring Dance, such as instructing women to wear a black dresses instead of white ones, as well as disallowing escorts. The changes were subsequently broken and made for a tumultuous event. Although the policy changes were well-intentioned and “meant to ‘align the Ring Dance with the inclusive missions of Westhampton College and the University of Richmond,’” many students still feel excluded from the event. Despite the financial assistance for Ring-Dance related cost given to students who qualify, the event still manages to exclude those who are not comfortable with the event, such as if they do not have a father, think they cannot afford to attend, do not conform to typical gender norms, or do not see people of their race attending in years past.

The University of Richmond has a coordinate college system, meaning that it has a college for women, Westhampton College, and a college for men, Richmond College. The lake separates the two sides of campus, and it wasn’t until 2002 that men and women began living on both sides of the lake. Each college has its unique traditions as well.

Traditions, such as Ring Dance, help connect generations, and highlight values that the group considers to be important. Through time, many of Westhampton College's traditions have slowly faded away. These traditions, although relics of the past, provide a glimpse into the college's past, forming the white, upper class definition of womanhood on campus. This exhibit features four Westhampton College traditions or organizations: The Women’s Lifestyle Committee, the annual Panty Raids, May Day, and Rat Week. It will examine aspects of each that contributed to a campus culture of racism, classism, and sexism. 

This exhibit was created by Catherine Franceski ('20) as part an A&S Summer Research Fellowship in summer 2018.