"The Omaha 54"
BLAC wrote a formal response to the mishandling of the dance by Student Activities and the longstanding problems they saw with the university’s policy towards Black and African American history courses. This was submitted to President Kirk Naylor on November 7, 1969.[1]
Part of this formal response was a list of six demands presented to President Naylor in the hopes that he would act on the issues BLAC identified.
The demands were:
- The immediate resignation of Mr. Fredrick Ray, Director of Student Activities and Mrs. Thelma Engles, staff assistant to Mr. Ray.
- Control of the Student Center be given to a student governing body.
- A voice in the programming of Black Studies curriculum, speakers, and instructors.
- Equal treatment for all student athletes.
- An explanation for the 95% budget reduction for Black oriented student activities and programs.
- Reimbursement for revenue lost during the dance or rescheduling the dance (if the above demands are met).
BLAC also published a letter to the student body explaining their position.[2]
President Naylor responded to BLAC on November 10, 1969 at 11:30 during a press conference to publicly discuss the issues articulated in the list of demands. According to the memo Naylor wrote to the Board of Regents recounting the events the day after, he
"explained to them that I wanted all avenues of communication to be kept open and no concern was unimportant to me. I assured them that the university would be cognizant of their concerns and that the proper council or committee in the university structure would give serious attention to any concern which they might have."[3]
Naylor also provided a written response to BLAC’s demands.
After the conference, Naylor met with BLAC in the Regents Room attached to his office.[4] When he refused their demands but assured them that the administration took their concerns seriously, BLAC spokesperson Robert Honoré announced that the group found Naylor's response inadequate. As a result, dozens of Black students held a peaceful sit-in, refusing to leave the president’s office or the Regents Room. [5]
The police were called after 15 minutes of the sit-in. The students, now known as the Omaha 54, were arrested, brought out of the building peacefully in pairs or groups of three. The Omaha 54 were greeted by fellow students, university staff and faculty, and other administrative workers , some of whom sang “We Shall Overcome” as they were led out of the Regents Room. Black and white students showed support for their peers by raising their fists as a symbol of Black Power and solidarity.
The Omaha 54 were loaded into the paddy wagons and brought down to the police station where they were charged with unlawful assembly under LB1381, the new Nebraska Anti-Riot Act.[6] Images of Black students, peacefully led through the Administration Building, flooded local media.
Each student's bail was set at $25, except for Honoré and Carl Sullivan, both of whose bail was set at $50.
Read the full exchange between BLAC and president Naylor, examine newspaper accounts of the sit-in and trial, or learn more in the Student Unrest Collection.