In Support of the SF State Black Unity Center

RATIONALE: The Black Unity Center was opened in August 2017 as a resource for Black students on the San Francisco State campus. The inaugural Director, Professor Serie McDougal, has made great progress in reaching out to the entire campus with programming that is open and inclusive. The Academic Senate remains concerned and about the need for ongoing consultation and support of the center and its efforts.

the Black Unity Center at SF State University has been an ongoing demand from SF State’s Black Student Union from 1966 through 2016, and was one of six student demands made to President Wong to address the retention and success of African descended students; and

in the strategic spirits of equity and community, and after a series of meetings, President Wong acknowledged this demand and its relationship to the CSU Graduation Initiative 2025 by enabling the creation of The Black Unity Center as part of the new Division of Equity and Community Inclusion; and

under the leadership of Dr. Serie McDougal III, Associate Professor of Africana Studies, College of Ethnic Studies, the mission of The Black Unity Center has evolved to provide students, through cross-campus community collaboration, an African-centered environment that aims at student achievement through transformative, impactful and social conscious programs that minimize barriers to educational equity; and

the Director of the Center provides guidance, consultation and assistance in the development, review and revision of departmental/unit policies and procedures so as to minimize barriers to educational equity for Black students and to enhance access, success, retention and graduation for Black students; and

the Director and the Center’s work-study coordinators provides guidance on the development of culturally responsive programing and co-curriculum and work collaboratively with Academic Affairs colleagues on promoting culturally relevant curriculum; and