Celebrating decades of Ohio University’s African-American history, 450 black alumni returned to campus this weekend. A photo exhibit, symposium, talk on African heritage, numerous meet-and-greets, an event honoring OU’s first tenured African-American professor and a gala with 350 registered attendees were several of the events the university held for alumni.
The events were paid for through a combination of funding from the OU Alumni Association and ticket sales from the 450 people who registered for the weekend, said Jennifer Bowie, the university’s executive director of development.
“I thought it went very well,” said OU President Roderick McDavis. “Those black alumni who came had a great time. There were a number of very nice activities that occurred.”
The number of attendees was down more than half from the last reunion three years ago when about 1,000 alumni attended, McDavis said.
As of the 2011-12 academic year — the most recent data available — 1,035 OU students were African-American, 4.8 percent of the student population.
The event moved from the spring to the fall because of OU’s change to semesters, McDavis said.
Francine Childs, OU’s first tenured African-American professor, was honored Friday night.
Saturday night at the gala, OU’s Ebony Bobcat Network presented McDavis with a check for $20,000 for the Urban Scholars program, McDavis said. The scholarship program has been underfunded since its inception in 2004.
“It was a pleasant surprise,” McDavis said.
David Pearson, 69, a 1967 OU graduate with a degree in business, said that the Athens campus is beautiful and the people are gracious, which always beckons him back to the university.
OU honors ‘trailblazers’ during gala
When Frank Underwood graduated from Ohio University in 1954, he could not get a haircut in Athens because of his skin color.
To stay well-groomed, Underwood had to pile in another black student’s car with as many as 10 other boys and head to The Plains.
Almost 60 years later, Underwood, an 81-year-old retired United States Army colonel, was honored for breaking down racial barriers by hundreds of people standing and clapping for him at the Black Alumni Reunion’s gala.
Underwood, along with another player, was the first black student to receive an athletic scholarship at OU and was honored with the OU Ebony Bobcat Network’s Trailblazer Award. Hilda Richards, now in her 70s, OU’s first female and African-American dean, was awarded the Inclusion Medal of Excellence.
Underwood’s scholarship was for football. Without it, he couldn’t have paid for college, he said.
“In 1950, when I did come … the highest ranking black on this campus was a janitor at Scott Quadrangle,” Underwood said.
Richards had a similar experience when she came to OU in 1979 to start the College of Health Sciences and Professions.
“When I came as dean, the people in the college … thought they had a weak dean. The provost had its affirmative action candidate,” Richards said. “(A colleague said), ‘We had a double reason to believe it because you were black and female.’ ”
Racism in Athens was not as overt as it was in the South, but it was still present, said Underwood, who has lived in Virginia for much of his life because of his former job at the Pentagon.
“(In the South), they could do whatever they wanted to black peoples whereas up here, it was subtle racism and subtle attitudes,” he said.
Richards said that working at OU from 1979 to 1986 was the best job she ever had.
“I’m very outspoken … but I also learned how to keep my mouth shut when I needed to,” she said.
Underwood, like Richards, had extra pressure put on him to perform well because of his race.
In his first year at OU, Carroll Widdoes, OU’s football coach from 1949 to 1957, told Underwood that if he played well, the university would bring in more black players, Underwood said.
In Underwood’s third year at OU, the team won the Mid-American Conference championship for the first time.
“The importance (of the awards) is first and foremost to recognize trailblazers,” said OU President Roderick McDavis, adding that Richards and Underwood paved the way for his presidency as the first African-American president of OU.
“It’s just a great way to remind us all that others have come before … who really did a great job in terms of blazing the trail for those of us that follow,” McDavis said.
dd195710@ohiou.edu
@WillDrabold
