Establishing a Department of Black Studies 1971
The Black Studies department at UNO was not created in a cultural or political vacuum. Unrest and activism on campuses, in towns and cities across the nation, and changes in higher education saw the creation of many departments and programs focusing on Black Studies, African Studies, and Ethnic Studies.
In Omaha, the community and students called for diversifying curriculum at the university and new mandates by the 1970s Regents Commission converged to form the UNO Department of Black Studies. [1]
For this purpose, Melvin Wade was hired from University of California Santa Monica to lead the formation of the Black Studies department and serve as its first interim chair.
By February 1971, Wade drafted a plan for Black Studies and submitted it to UNO administrators, including Dean Gaines of the College of Arts and Sciences and Chancellor Blackwell.[2] Wade envisioned UNO Black Studies as serving all UNO students by offering courses on Black history and culture in the United States. Additionally, he saw Black Studies working closely with community organizations, bringing attention to social issues, and helping to solve them. This community-oriented facet of Black Studies would ideally act as a mechanism to draw attention to and celebrated often overlooked Black communities in Omaha. In the Black Studies plan, Wade proposed a Black Studies Center located off-campus in the Near North Side neighborhood, within the North Omaha business district.
Wade envisioned Black Studies courses that were interdisciplinary and cross-listed, with Intro classes inviting students from all backgrounds to participate. He hoped that students would be encouraged to experience, likely for the first time, Black history and contemporary issues facing Black people in America.
The department proposal gained support from many, but not all, campus faculty and units. Wade was joined by a Black Studies Advisory Committee, composed of faculty from several departments in the College of Arts and Sciences. Work began in earnest in establishing a Department of Black Studies at UNO as Wade, now joined by the Advisory Committee, drafted department proposals for the Board of Regents to review. The Committee shared objectives, goals, and needs that the department would fulfill on campus. Wade and others met with seventeen departments to discuss Black Studies, with a survey sent as a follow-up. Some departments dissented, and others pressed for caution or moving slower, but the majority voiced their support for the new department.[3]
Once established, a permanent department chair was needed, as Wade had taken a position at Vassar College in New York state. The Black Studies Advisory Committee and Wade received a small but well-qualified candidate pool, whose understanding of Black Studies aligned with the vision Wade and the Committee presented to the Board of Regents. Milton White from University of California, Santa Barbara was offered the position and hired, recommended by Wade. White was a PhD candidate in Political Science at Santa Barbara where he and Wade were acquainted with the other’s work. As White was still completing his PhD, the university hired him as an Acting Chairman and an assistant professor until his degree was complete.
Black Studies began offering courses in the Fall Semester of 1971.