Nameka R. Bates

Acting Director

Bruce D. Nesbitt African American Cultural Center

University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign

February 1968 marked the beginning of the most historic event on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus.  In the midst of the Civil Rights Movement and alongside student uprisings across the country, graduate students at Illinois decided it was time that our institution step to the forefront and transform the racial climate by allowing access to more students of color.  The Special Education Opportunities Program, better known as “Project 500”, brought African American and Latino students to Illinois in an effort to cultivate an environment that promotes equal education inclusive of and welcoming to students of color.  Forty years later, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will mark another historic event as over 3,000 African American alumni are expected to return for the Black Alumni Reunion which will be held November 6 th -9th, 2008.  Themed “500 Dreams Ago…Continuing the Legacy and Bridging the Gaps”, this will be the first time in the history of the University of Illinois that an organized reunion effort has drawn this many Black alumni back to our campus.  Never before has Illinois experienced an occasion where Black Alumni across the country are preparing to return to the place where they remember the good times, educational opportunities, and relationship building while still harboring the feelings that continue to linger of hostile campus climates, a racist mascot, and academic discrimination.  We are extremely excited that with the good and the bad, our alumni are excited to return to our campus in an effort to speak loud and proud toward their commitment to remembering the past and impacting the future of Black life on the University of Illinois campus.       

We must be clear in understanding that this reunion is not only a celebration to remember the students, but also to remember those things that were created out of the demands the Project 500 students fought to be included in their college experience.  The Bruce D. Nesbitt African American Cultural Center is a direct benefactor of the 1968 student uprisings.  Among the thirty-five demands presented to the University President, students charged the University with providing a place where they could feel safe and engage in cultural expression instilled within them from high school.  We are extremely proud of the program expansions we have made over these forty years, and we will continue to honor and celebrate these programs for years to come.  During the reunion weekend, the University of Illinois Black Chorus will simultaneously be celebrating their Ruby Anniversary.  Black Chorus alumni from all over the country will return to join in a weekend filled with celebrating 40 years of growing into a choir that has become nationally renowned.  Along with the celebration of the Black Chorus, our office will also utilize this opportunity while alumni are on campus to celebrate the contributions that Nathaniel C. Banks has made to the campus and community over the past thirty years.    

There is a saying that goes, “The reward for hard work is more work”, and this saying exemplifies the legacy of Nathaniel C. Banks.  After over fifteen years of serving relentlessly to build upon the tradition that is the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Bruce D. Nesbitt African American Cultural Center, Mr. Banks has advanced to another position at our institution as the Director of Community Initiatives.  Mr. Banks watched his mentor and friend Bruce D. Nesbitt create a strong foundation where African American students on the Illinois campus could feel a sense of belonging and connection to their African American heritage.  He served as the Assistant Director of the BNAACC for 12 years.  While serving as the Director, Mr. Banks remained committed to his community responsibility as he served and continues to serve on the Champaign Unit #4 School Board.  His dedication to Black life and culture on college campuses extends beyond Illinois as he served two terms as the President of the Association for Black Cultural Centers.       

I am extremely honored to serve in the position of Acting Director to contribute to the legacy that Mr. Banks has currently left in my hands.  When I met Mr. Banks at the tender age of twelve, he was the Director of the Upward Bound College Preparatory Academy.  My older brother just finished his first summer in the program and we were at the closing banquet.  Mr. Banks came to the podium and urged the parents to contribute to the UB scholarship fund.  I remember it like it was yesterday.  He stood at the podium with an extraordinarily humble spirit, coupled with a commanding presence of dedication to young people and commitment to providing all of them with a sense of opportunity.  Though I was not a student in the program, his call for support made me want to be a part of a program that came together to build a better community.  Since that time, I have been blessed with the opportunity to learn from Mr. Banks that sometimes a silent roar is more effective than a loud cry.  It gives me great pride that Mr. Banks trusts that I will continue to pave the way for our past, present, and future African American student population to enrich our traditions that have assisted in shaping diversity at Illinois.    

This year promises to be an exciting year for the Bruce D. Nesbitt African American Cultural Center.  The 100 STRONG recruitment and retention program and Mo Betta Music are two initiatives created by Mr. Banks to address great needs that we have on our campus and in the community.  As enrollment for Black students on our campus continue to remain stagnant and retention rates are improving minimally, the program strives to address the current African American population’s academic, social, and cultural trends that have contributed to or created barriers toward graduation success. Through his vision, Mr. Banks called upon the University to make a commitment to diversity and over the past three years this program has proven that university focus and support is essential to the success of African American students on our campus.  Complimentary to his personality and values, the connection to academics, leadership, and community should not be a surprising model.  Though his first priority is to the students that he served on the Illinois campus, his heart always remained strongly connected to his love for music.  The Mo Betta Music program which includes a jazz band, gospel choir, drum core, and media training focuses on young African American children in the Champaign-Urbana community.  All initiatives are focused on ensuring that young people who cannot afford professional training will be afforded the opportunity to become technically rich within the African American tradition by utilizing the resources that are not normally available to them.  Each summer, Mr. Banks runs a camp for young African American children to learn instrumental music.    

Unfortunately, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will not be present at this year’s conference due to the Black Alumni Reunion that is taking place on our campus.  We would like to say hello to those we will miss seeing this year and assure everyone that we plan to continue to be active in supporting the Association for Black Cultural Centers throughout the year.  Until we meet again!

Hotep Brothers and Sisters!