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Guide to the University of California, Irvine, Black Student Union Records
AS.098
AS-098
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Title: University of California, Irvine, Black Student Union records
Collection Number: AS-098
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine Libraries
Irvine, California 92623-9557
Languages: The collection is in English.
Physical Description:
1.2 Linear feet
(2 boxes)
Date (bulk): Bulk, 1997-2003
Date (inclusive): 1971-2006
Abstract: This collection comprises records of the Black Student Union at UC Irvine from 1971 until 2006. Included are materials that
represent the organization's reaction to changes in the Equal Opportunities Program (EOP) and address general problems of
race relations on campus in the early 1970s. Other materials document student participation in the organization, activities,
and events in subsequent decades.
Creator:
University of California, Irvine. African American Student Union.
Creator:
University of California, Irvine. Afrikan Student Union.
Creator:
University of California, Irvine. Black Student Union.
The collection is open for research.
Property rights and copyright reside with the University of California. For permissions to reproduce or to publish, please
contact the University Archivist.
Black Student Union Records, University of California, Irvine. AS-098. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries,
Irvine, California.
Materials relating to the Black Student Union's reaction to the Equal Opportunities Program were a gift of Bolerium Books,
2005. Other materials were acquired periodically from campus sources.
Processed by Audrey Pearson, 2008. Additions and finding aid updates made by Joanna Lamb, 2009.
The Black Student Union (BSU) was established in 1971 at UC Irvine in response to the reorganization of the Equal Opportunities
Program and to address affirmative action and race relation issues. The 2009-2010 mission of BSU is to create and promote
a supportive and inclusive community that provides educational, cultural, and social programming that inspires the black student
community through activism and outreach. The organization serves as the umbrella for all black organizations on campus with
the ultimate goal to provide a welcoming and united space for the community while also stimulating an awareness of political,
economic, and social forces affecting the people of the African Diaspora.
Since the group's inception, the BSU has chosen to change names as the values and goals of the organization evolved. The organization
was known as the African American Student Union from 1990 to 1993. In 1993 it changed its name to the Afrikan Student Union.
In 2009 the group voted to change the name back to the Black Student Union in an effort to reconnect with the history of political
activism during the Black Campus movement in the mid 1960s and the mid 1970s.
Collection Scope and Content Summary
This collection comprises records of the Black Student Union at UC Irvine from 1971 until 2006. Included are materials that
represent the organization's reaction to a changes in the Equal Opportunities Program (EOP) and address general problems of
race relations on campus in the early 1970s. Other materials document student participation in the organization, activities,
and events in subsequent decades. In particular, this collection highlights the Black Baccalaureate program, the Martin Luther
King symposium, and numerous student performances and gatherings in campus-wide events, including the Rainbow Festival.
This collection is arranged in 4 series: 1. Administrative records, 1971-2006; 2. Publications, 1972-2002; 3. Reports, 1971;
4. Scrapbooks, 1996-2002
Related materials about the Black Student Union can be found in the following collection:
- Cross Cultural Center Records, University of California, Irvine. AS-052. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
The following publications were removed from this collection and cataloged separately in Special Collections and Archives:
Umoja. Irvine, Calif: Afrikan Student Union, University of California, Irvine, 1990-2003.