A deep dive into the history of UWSP’s lesser-known student body
Introduction
The Black Student Coalition or the BSU, first caught my attention while visiting Old Main on campus. On the third floor there is a hallway full of photos that display extracurricular activities like sports and bonfires. Among them a particular photo stood out to me. The photo in question was the one above. Under the photo is explains the background behind the picture. It is the black student union and their main goal on campus was to make students feel less alienated. Right after that it states that Lee Dreyfus encouraged the members of the coalition to recruit black students from the Milwaukee area. I thought to myself that not only did I not learn anything about the coalition, but it also seems that Lee Dreyfus is taking credit from the black student coalition for successfully recruiting black kids into school. So, I decided to take a deep dive of the history on my own.
Background
To get an understanding of why there was a need for a black student coalition, you have to understand the social climate of the time. You see, In the early civil rights era there were about 4 recorded black people living in Stevens Point. Stevens Point was once known as a sundown town. A sundown Town is a town that prevents black and other minority groups from living there or being there after dark. They would keep these people out by either using scare tactics, politics, or gentleman agreements. Many times, real estate agents would make gentlemen agreements to not have their houses be sold to minority families. This kept stevens point predominantly white. It wasn’t until the civil rights movement that stevens point saw an influx of minority residents. In the 1970’s there were enough black students at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point that Brenda Lee and fellow students created a coalition group to have them all be seen and heard.
Core Coalition
Following Brenda Lee’s creation of the coalition, many activities, lectures, and showcases took place. The coalition was known for their “Black Week” event during the month of February that celebrated and highlighted black culture. Rap concerts were held along with dances and lectures to not only celebrate black culture but to learn it Aswell. One of the groups most noteworthy activities is what they used to do during winter break. During winter break, they would go back home and recruit black students from their high school to go to UWSP and join the Black Student Coalition. The coalition came up with the idea to do that because the Civil Rights Wisconsin division publicly said that Stevens Point specifically had the lowest black student enrollment rate. Although the group spends most of their energy on getting acknowledged, they have even more ambitious goals. The main goals of the coalition are to combat alienation, increase black enrollment and have black history and culture included in core curriculum because black history is American history.
Sources
Loewen, James W. “Stevens Point.” History and Social Justice, July 28, 2023. https://justice.tougaloo.edu/sundowntown/stevens-point-wi/.
Stevens Point, University of Wisconsin, and University Archives UW- Stevens Point. Counterpoint, 1968-12-17 14, 1968. https://cdm17556.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/uwspseries450/id/192/rec/5.
Stevens Point, University of Wisconsin, and University Archives UW- Stevens Point. “Campus Rag, 1971-12-09 1.” Counterpoint, 1971-12-09 1, 1971. https://cdm17556.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/uwspseries450/id/515/rec/3.
Stevens Point, University of Wisconsin, and University Archives UW- Stevens Point. “Campus Rag, 1972-01-31 1.” Counterpoint, 1972-01-31 1, 1972. https://cdm17556.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/uwspseries450/id/354/rec/1.
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