While we research about the Black campus community that came before us, we want to highlight and celebrate the current Black students, faculty, and organizations making Berkeley a more welcoming and inclusive place for all Black people on our campus.
African American and African Diaspora Studies Department
The Department of African American Studies is an intellectual community committed to producing, refining and advancing knowledge of Black people in the United States, the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe and Africa. A key component of their mission is to interrogate the meanings and dimensions of slavery and colonialism, and their continuing political, social and cultural implications.
Information from: https://africam.berkeley.edu
African American Student Development Office
African American Student Development creates programs and activities that facilitate the retention and graduation of African American students, encourages their matriculation to graduate and professional school, and enhances theiruniversity experiences. Activities include: the Annual Black Student Orientation, Staff-Faculty, and Alumni Partnerships, Exchange Programs, Monthly Community Programs, Kwanzaa, Black History Month, community service/serving learning opportunities, academic support, advising and referral, internships, and freshman orientation classes.
Information from: https://cejce.berkeley.edu/aasd/about
Black Graduate Student Association
The Black Graduate Student Association (BGSA) primarily seeks to build community amongst incoming and continuing graduate students of African descent across the African diaspora. BGSA also seeks to reach out and support other members of the Black community on the UC Berkeley campus and in the East Bay. BGSA's creation was sparked by graduate students' firm belief in the power of having an organized and active space for Black graduate students to know each other, support each other, and address various concerns of the Black community both inside and outside of the University.
Information from: https://callink.berkeley.edu/organization/BGSA
Black Recruitment and Retention Center
The Black Recruitment and Retention Center, also known as BRRC, is a student-initiated, AND entirely student run organization at the University of California, Berkeley that was founded in 1983.
The purpose of the BRRC is to supplement, expand, and create efforts on campus and within the community toward the recruitment and retention of Black students. BRRC is one of 7 Recruitment and Retention Centers (RRCs) in the bridges Multicultural Resource Centers -a coalition of 8 organizations. BRRC serves as one of the three pillar organizations that advocate for Black students on and off the campus of UC Berkeley along side the African American Student Development Office, and the Black Student Union
Information from: http://brrc.berkeley.edu/about-us.html
Black Student Union
UC Berkeley's Black Student Union is a student-led organization that cultivates an intersectional framework for all levels of Black consciousness. BSU serves as the unifying body for Black organizations and the Black student body on campus.
Black Staff and Faculty Organization
The University of California, Berkeley, Black Staff and Faculty Organization (BSFO) was developed in 1979 to address the issues and concerns unique to employees at the University of California, Berkeley. The mission of BSFO is to create a climate which is conducive to the well-being and professional development aspirations of Black staff, faculty and students.
Information from: https://stafforg.berkeley.edu/organizations/staff-organizations/bsfo
Fannie Lou Hamer Resource Center
The Fannie Lou Hamer Black Resource Center, named after the Black voting rights activist and civil rights leader, serves the academic, social, cultural and political needs of the campus’ Black community. The center addresses a critical call by students for a safe convening environment, and creates space and opportunity for Black students and organizations to organize and engage in academic, social-cultural, leadership, community development and networking activities. The space will also enhance exchanges with faculty, alumni and community stakeholders. The center is located in the Hearst Field Annex east of Sproul Hall.
Information from: https://uhs.berkeley.edu/blackhealthmatters/campus-resources