Inspiration for the Future
The initiative of this group has brought inspiration for radical change on Washington University’s campus through a legacy of organizing, research, and collaboration within student voice. Students have now advocated for an African and African American studies department that was birthed out of the program that was initiated by ABC. This became reality in 2017. Within next generation of change makers after the ABC occupation of 1968, there was organizing to fulfill a new program alongside the following administration. Key figures such as Chancellor Emeritus William H. Danforth and James McLeod partnered with students in establishing the John B. Ervin Scholars Program of 1988 that provides full tuition scholarships to African American students. Furthermore, the Association of Black Students, formerly known as ABC, has received and upheld their own on-campus Black student housing. The catalyst of this success for Black students began with the 1968 Brookings Hall Occupation, a building with empowering student body who remain active today.