It is May 1968, and Northwestern graduate student James Turner and Dean of Students Roland Hinz are standing outside the Bursar’s Office, 619 Clark Street, waiting to address the media. Turner has just led more than 100 students in a non-violent, 38-hour sit-in to protest the university’s treatment of black students.
Fast forward 40 years: Turner and former Dean Hinz are side by side again, just down the street from the Bursar’s Office – waiting to address the nearly 90 students, faculty and alumni who gathered Friday afternoon in Hardin Hall to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Bursar Takeover.
“It’s quite an emotional experience to come back,” Hinz said. “Northwestern is a vastly different place today than it was 40 years ago. It’s a much healthier place, a more exciting place.”
After the 1968 sit-in, the administration promised more vigorous recruitment of black students, on-campus housing for minorities and the addition of African American studies courses, laying the groundwork for the Department of African American Studies later established in 1972.
Marcus Shepard, president of the African American Freshman Advisory Board; Jesse Yang, vice coordinator of For Members Only; and Shawna Cooper-Gibson , director of African American Student Affairs, began planning the anniversary event in late winter after Freshman Advisory Board Treasurer Beth Lynk suggested students commemorate the takeover.
“It’s a good opportunity hearing from former leaders to influence new student leaders to try and step up and do something as phenomenal as they did,” said Yang, a Weinberg sophomore. “They brought the civil rights movement and brought the fight for equality here to Northwestern. “
Since the students were unable to use the Bursar’s Office because of liability reasons, the next closest location was Rebecca Crown Center. Originally planned to be held in the courtyard of Rebecca Crown, inclement weather moved the celebration indoors.
“For me, it’s just nice to see the current student population being so active on campus,” Cooper-Gibson said.
The two-hour event included speeches by Martha Biondi, director of undergraduate studies of the African American Studies Department, Turner, and Hinz, as well as the singing of the African American National Anthem and a luncheon.
“A lot of people look at the Bursar Takeover as something that just affected the African American community,” said Shepard, a Communication freshman. “But people need to realize that what these 100 or so students did didn’t just change the black community, but changed Northwestern as a whole.”
The black community on campus has especially shown progress in recent years, Shepard said. During Wildcat Days before Fall Quarter, the Freshman Advisory Board and Ambassadors, NU’s black recruitment organization, organized about 70 students to host prospective black students, he said.
“I know that since I’ve been here, the black students on campus have become more active,” Shepard said. “It seems like we’re a very tight-knit community, just from what I’ve seen in my couple of months here. I feel like we’ll even continue to grow with all of the leadership that we have in our community.”
When Hinz first arrived at NU in 1965, he said there were only 29 black students. Today, the freshman class alone has 111 African American students – a number Shepard said he believes will greatly increase with next year’s freshman class.
“The events of 1968 were causes of significant historical movement that brought all of these sort of currents together,” Turner said. “I’m pleased to see that there are so many students here today, engaged, because this is our legacy, this is our history at Northwestern.”
