University Of Cincinatti’s Black Students Uphold Traditions After Cultural Center Shut Down Due To Anti-DEI Law

The University of Cincinnati shut down its African American Cultural and Resource Center (AACRC) in June in order to comply with anti-DEI laws. Yet, Black students and alumni have remained steadfast in keeping tradition and the community alive.

In June, University of Cincinnati President Neville G. Pinto announced that several identity centers serving Black students, women and LGBTQ+ students would be closing. He said the change was to comply with Ohio’s Advance Ohio Higher Education Act, signed into law in March. This included renaming the AACRC as “The Cultural Center” and making it a “general connection space with new programming for all students and student organizations,” according to a news release from the university.

“I recognize that unwinding deeply rooted efforts around inclusion will undoubtedly challenge core feelings of belonging for many in our community,” Pinto said in a news release. “My message to you is unequivocal: You belong here. I encourage you to use the new facilities and programs to remain connected and find the support you need.”

The history of the University of Cincinatti’s AACRC

The center first opened in 1991 and became a place of community, tradition and history. Over the years, it highlighted Cincinnati’s history of segregation by honoring figures such as Georgia Elizabeth Beasley, one of the first Black students to graduate from UC in 1925.

Some students and alumni say the new anti-DEI rulings put history at risk of being forgotten: “The reason why the center was created was for situations like this, oddly enough,” 2017 graduate Stephen Mosby told WVXU.

Ife Oshunniyi, a student and chair of the United Black Student Association, said the center shutting down is a reflection of the political state of the country and the similar closures that have been occurring at campuses nationwide.

“We can be mad and get mad at UC, but it’s happening at every single university,” she said. “This is not an issue with Pinto. This is a reflection of the political state in this country.”

Black students and alumni are keeping tradition and the community alive

Although they are no longer receiving support from the University of Cincinnati, students and alumni have come together to ensure Black students can still find community. This year’s Black Graduation Celebration was organized off-campus, while a welcome celebration for incoming Black students was hosted by current students without help from UC staff.

A group of alumni who helped launch the AACRC in the late 1980s and 1990s have created the Cincy Cultural Resource Center Foundation, which will fund programs such as mentorship, student choir, as well as educational and cultural events.

“What became obvious is that in the current political climate, there needed to be a change that really moved from public to private support and funding for valuable programs and valuable services that the current political climate on the state of Ohio has turned its back on,” Harlan Jackson, a former president of the United Black Association at UC told WVXU.

“We’ll be supporting financially as an independent 501(c)(3) going forward,” Byron Stallworth, who was also a former head of the UBA, added. “Every time they decide to do a program and they need money to help pull it off, for it to feel professional, we’re going to support them.”

Students know they can count on support from their peers as they say it takes more to take down a community than renaming a building.

“While they may be taking these letters down, this building is still here. And this space is still ours if we want it to be ours,” Oshunniyi said. “So, we want people to still come in here and to take up the space because at the end of the day, we are a community more than we’re a building.”