These are the questions that are most frequently asked in the African American
Cultural Center. If you need further information beyond what is offered here,
feel free to contact us at (724) 357-2455.
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When and why was the Center established? What is its purpose?
Until July 1995, the African American Cultural Center was named the Black
Cultural Center. At this time, the name was changed to the African American
Cultural Center to reflect the notion that the focus is more upon the history,
culture, achievements, contributions, and struggles of Africans and people of
African descent and not necessarily upon skin color. The most recent available
data indicate that the Center was established in the mid 1970s to provide a
variety of social, educational, cultural, and recreational activities that
helped to enhance the educational experience at IUP for African American
students, providing them with a home away from home type of experience that
may serve to facilitate their college retention and graduation.
The mission of the Center has and continues to evolve. It still maintains the
above focus, but also, while it targets African American heritage and culture,
it exists to assist the univeristy with meeting the needs of an increasingly
diverse student population. To this end, the African American Cultural Center
is dedicated to the enhancement of multiculturalism. It strives to foster growt
development, cultural awareness, and racial sensitivity among IUP students,
faculty, administrators, staff, and in the local community.
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What services does the Center offer?
The Center provides a variety of cultural, educational, social, and
recreational programs yearly. It also assists with minority student leadership
development and maintains various resources and facilities that are designed to
promote cross-cultural interactions and informal exchanges as well as
supplement classroom instruction. These resources and facilities
include an annual calendar of events (RAAMA, i.e. Resources of
African American and Multicultural Activities), a directory of predominantly
African American student organizations (UJAAMA), monthly bulletins, lounging
and meeting facilities, a library of resources on African American heritage and
culture, and selected sound and stereo equipment.
The Center also advises several predominantly African American student
organizations - the Black Student League (a governing body), the
Black Emphasis Committee (a programming body), and the African American Dance
Ensemble - while assisting others as needed.
For further information on the Center's programs and services, feel free to
contact us at (724) 357-2455, and/or see
the calendar of events,
services and
facilities that are available at these websites.
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Does the Center have an African American library?
Yes, the Center maintains a Resource Library of African American Heritage and
Culture. Materials and resources include books, magazines, journals,
newspapers, and videos. The library holdings are generally updated yearly.
Most materials can be checked out by members of the IUP and local
community. The loan period depends upon the respective item being sought for
check-out. See Facilities at this website for further information on loan
periods.
- Isn't the Center and its services primarily for African Americans?
No. While the Center focuses upon African/African American heritage, history,
and culture, it is open to all members of the IUP and local community and
assists both minority and majority students. Furthermore, African/African
American Cultural Centers, like African American studies, are essentially
humanizing, multidimensional, and multidisciplinary entities that "focus upon
Black thought and behavior in their multidimensionality" (Okafor, 1996, p.
698). Being inclusive to only Blacks is therefore, counterproductive and
incongruent with the underlying reasoning for the existence of African
American studies, i.e., the predecessor to African/African American Cultural
Centers.
As Ohaegbulam (1990, p.16) indicated, African American Studies exist to
perform the following specific services:
- To educate and re-educate students about the nature and dynamics of the
Black experience in America and throughout the world.
- To include, in current curriculum, formerly omitted information on the
Black experience.
- To correct distorted and erroneous perceptions of the Black experience.
- To provide knowledge that can be used to develop the Black community
worldwide.
- To bring about reform in society-at-large and to foster universal racial
justice.
- To provide White students an understanding of Black culture and an experien
that will help them to combat their socially acquired cultural ethnocentricism
and to promote greater human understanding in the White community.
- To assist students in acquiring the information and attitudes necessary for
their full development as human beings and for living and working effectively
in a multicultural environment. (Okafor, p. 703).
It can be said that the same general philosophical perspectives
underlie African/African American Cultural Centers in general, as well as the
Center at IUP. The primary difference between Black Studies and the respective
centers is that African/African American Cultural Centers extend to the
surrounding communities. These assertions are presented to help answer the ques
posed, and to help to clearly note that the African American Cultural Center at
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