Collection Guide
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Black Student Union records (University of California, Irvine)
AS.098
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine Libraries
Title: University of California, Irvine, Black Student Union records
Creator:
University of California, Irvine. African American Student Union
Creator:
University of California, Irvine. Afrikan Student Union
Identifier/Call Number: AS.098
Physical Description:
0.75 Linear Feet
(1 document box and 1 half document box) and 13.25 unprocessed linear feet
Physical Description:
512 Megabytes
Unprocessed born digital material
Date (inclusive): 1971-2015
Date (bulk): 1997-2003
Abstract: This collection comprises records of the Black Student Union at UC Irvine from 1971 until 2015. 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.
Language of Material:
English
.
Processed components of the collection are open for research. Unprocessed additions may contain restricted materials. Please
contact the Department of Special Collections and Archives in advance to request access.
Property rights reside with the University of California. Copyrights are generally retained by the creators of the records
and their heirs, unless transferred to the University of California. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine
who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where the UC Regents do
not hold the copyright.
For information on use, copyright, and attribution, please visit: http://special.lib.uci.edu/using/publishing.html
University of California, Irvine, Black Student Union records. AS-098. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries,
Irvine, California. Date accessed.
For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information about sources consulted in this
collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder descriptions, and box/folder locations.
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. Transferred from the Black Student Union, June 2014.
Transferred by Tionna Tank, 2019. Transferred from the UCI Cross Cultural Center, 2016-2017. Separated from the UCI Cross
Cultural Center records (AS-052) and UCI Clubs and Organizations publications (PS-033), 2019-2020.
Processed by Audrey Pearson, 2008.
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. It is the mission of the Black Student Union to create
and promote a supportive and inclusive community, while also intellectually challenging the Black students on the campus of
UC Irvine. This organization, established specifically for political reasons, works for a more humane and culturally relevant
college experience for UCI students. The Black Student Union strives to provide educational, cultural, and social programs
that inspire the community to take action through activism as well as outreach on and off campus. This organization serves
as the Umbrella for the other Black organizations on campus, with the ultimate goal of providing a welcoming and united space
for the community while also stimulating an awareness of political, economic, and social forces affecting people of the African
Diaspora.
Throughout the history of the organization, 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 2015. Included are materials that
represent the organization's reaction to a change 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:
- Series 1. Administrative records, 1971-2006
- Series 2. Publications, 1972-2002
- Series 3. Reports, 1971
- Series 4. Scrapbooks, 1996-2002
The collection also contains five unprocessed additions:
- Accession 2014-034. Unprocessed addition 2014, 2010-2014. 9.3 linear feet
- Accession 2015-034. Unprocessed addition 2015, 1987-2015. 1.1 linear feet
- Accession 2019-023. Unprocessed addition 2019, 1994-2009. 1 linear feet and 512 MB
- Accession 2019-027. Unprocessed addition 2019, 1981-2015. 1.6 linear feet
- Accession 2020-024. Unprocessed addition 2017, 2014-2015. 0.1 linear feet
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.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Minority college students -- California -- Irvine -- 20th century
Scrapbooks -- California -- Orange County -- 20th century
African American college students -- California -- Irvine -- 20th century.
University of California, Irvine. African American Student Union -- Archives
University of California, Irvine. Afrikan Student Union -- Archives
University of California, Irvine. Black Student Union -- Archives
University of California, Irvine -- Students -- Archives