DuBois College House celebrates its 25th year

This weekend, DuBois residenta will put on an anniversary conference. The house celebrates its rich and controversial history today through Sunday with a conference commemorating its 25th anniversary. DuBois remains a "vibrant and nurturing community pursuing academic excellence, student leadership and reaching out as a partner to the West Philadelphia community," according to Vice Provost for University Life Valarie Swain-Cade McCoullum, who was the faculty master of the house from 1978 to 1980. The predominantly black college house has had to overcome its share of struggles since its inception, however. In the aftermath of the civil rights movement, the rate of black students matriculating into the University boomed, nearly doubling every year, according to Black Student League President Rasool Berry. But the campus remained an unwelcoming, hostile environment for black students, many of whom complained of being harassed by white peers and ignored by professors, the College junior said. In honor of the anniversary, Berry worked with a number of Black Student League members on a research project entitled "What Every Black Student at Penn Should Know? A History of Black Presence at Penn." The students spoke to former University administrators and examined a variety of legal documents. The students found that Philadelphia police frequently stopped black students without sufficient cause. One 1973 graduate was stopped by officers nine times just in his freshman year. In 1968, then-College for Women sophomore Cathy Barlow planned an open sit-in at College Hall to protest Penn's treatment of black students. The University's response to the sit-in began a dialogue that would lead to the creation of the Afro-American Studies Program and DuBois, programs focusing specifically on black excellence and scholarship. Formally drawn up by Barlow, a report presented to University Council called Penn's commitment to black students shallow because "it provides only a mediocre college experience," according to the March 14, 1972 Almanac. Council decided to investigate the proposed creation of a black residence but questioned "five serious issues of concern" about the residence, ranging from its legality to the benefits it would provide the student body. The proposed black residence evolved over time from an exclusively black college house to one open to all students. Pushing for her plan, Barlow continued to lead the black students in a series of protests. Finally, in August 1972, 60 black students and two faculty members moved into DuBois College House to begin the living and learning program. Since then, the house has often been a target of racial harassment. In October 1981, DuBois received a series of bomb threats. In response, nearly 1,000 University students, faculty and administrations linked arms and encircled the house, singing "We Shall Overcome." Most recently, in October 1993, several students received bomb threats and racially harassing phone calls. Since then, however, DuBois has dealt with relatively few racially charged incidents. The house has also often been targeted in debates over racial relations on campus and randomized housing. And drawing charges that The Daily Pennsylvanian unfairly scrutinizes the house because of racism at the paper, several DP columnists have criticized DuBois in recent years. But such opposition has not prevented DuBois College House from thriving as an institution because of its continued goal of academic excellence, according to Berry. "Contrary to what people would like to believe, DuBois College House's academic focus goes right along with Penn's 21st Century Project that endorses academic residential learning program," Berry said. "DuBois is not just where people live, it's where people become a community." DuBois College House Assistant Dean Sonia Elliot added that the house focuses on the "fact that education is not simply in classrooms." "Much of what happens in DuBois College House is putting education to practical use, through mentoring support and working with alumni and key administrators," Elliot said. Faculty Master Howard Stevenson described the house as a safe haven where students freely express themselves culturally and where "their existence and intellectual abilities are not questioned." Applauding the diversity among DuBois College House residents, Stevenson emphasized that diversity is more than just an issue of skin color. Berry agreed, noting that "people forget sometimes that black people do not just have one culture." "Living at DuBois, I learned more about diversity by talking to students from Trinidad and Ghana, then anywhere else," he added. One overriding misconception of the DuBois College House is that it is exclusively for black students. "From its inception, the DuBois program never rejected student on the basis of race," Berry said. Engineering sophomore Catherine La Rocco, one of the non-black DuBois College House residents, sees the house as a "bunch of people who want to live together because they get along well." As with the University's other college houses, such as the Modern Languages House and the Science and Technology Living and Learning Program, DuBois College House residents are people who choose to live with those who understand their unique intellectual pursuits and lifestyles, La Rocco said. "When I visited DuBois as a freshman, I found that people here were very polite, very caring and very nice to me -- treated me better than any other place on campus," La Rocco said. The conference celebrating the house's 25th anniversary kicks off today with an opening ceremony and gala reception at DuBois College House featuring a keynote address by Barlow. A full day of rotating workshops will take place tomorrow from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at DuBois College House. And the Black Alumni Society will hold a reception Saturday afternoon after the homecoming football game. The celebration will continue with a formal ball at First District Plaza Ballroom Saturday night. And a jazz brunch featuring Lorene Cary, a University lecturer, alumna and the author of Black Ice, will conclude the conference Sunday at noon.

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