October 31, 2008
Forty years ago this fall, students of color at Brown and Pembroke joined forces to enact groundbreaking change on College Hill. They demanded that the administration place an increased focus on achieving a more diversified University. Dissatisfied with the slow pace of change, they organized an historic walkout that has become a symbol of all Brown students who strive to be heard when faced with issues of inequality. Four decades later, the reverberations of these students’ commitment are felt more strongly than ever. We see the impact of their vision in the many ways that Brown nurtures an environment that welcomes difficult questions about race and diversity: in academic departments such as Africana Studies and Ethnic Studies; in the performances at the Rites and Reason Theater; in the outstanding work being done at the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America and the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies; and the Third World Transition Program. The spirit that swept the campus in 1968 laid the foundation for an unprecedented opportunity for us to walk back in and become an integral part of the changes taking place at Brown today. The University’s administration, as well as the entire community, welcomes our participation, engagement, and partnership. Boldly Brown: The Alumni of Color Initiative was launched in March 2008 as a fundraising effort to ensure that diversity remains a fundamental value at Brown. If you have already given your support to the 2008-2009 Brown Annual Fund your gift is already having a direct impact on students and faculty of color at Brown; thank you very much. As a spokesperson for the students who participated in the 1968 walkout I invite you to help the University build upon this core value and consider adding to your support by joining me as a donor to Boldly Brown: The Alumni of Color Initiative. If you have not yet made your gift to Brown, please join me and your fellow alumni of color, by making a gift to the Alumni of Color Initiative this year. Boldly Brown: The Alumni of Color Initiative is bringing alumni together to strengthen our first priority: making Brown a better place for all students and faculty to live, learn, and succeed. The Alumni of Color (AOC) Campaign Committee is working closely with leadership from the University’s affinity groups—the Asian/Asian American Alumni Alliance, the Brown University Latino Alumni Council, and the Inman Page Black Alumni Council as well as the Multicultural Alumni Committee of the Brown Alumni Association—to support several key areas that will build upon the achievements of the Boldly Brown campaign, create change now, and ensure an even brighter future. The three main elements of the initiative were chosen by the leadership of Brown’s African American alumni community and seek to further the objectives set forth by those who walked out in 1968: current-use support through the Brown Annual Fund for either unrestricted use or Investment in Diversity, which provides scholarship aid with a preference for students of color with financial need; a contribution to the Third World Transition Program Endowment; endowed scholarships; and departmental support for Africana Studies. With your help, we will uphold these important programs and also meet our 35% participation goal for the African American alumni community by the final year of the Campaign. The Plan for Academic Enrichment has so far been successful in weaving diversity into the fabric of all aspects of life at Brown. Of the 1,554 members of the Class of 2012, 34% are students of color. Additionally, there has been a 53% increase in the number of black faculty members since the 2001-2002 academic year. These are indications that the dreams of Brown’s earliest students of color are starting to become a reality. We are now in a position to influence daily operations at Brown, and to be the driving force behind policies that will affect its approach to education and shape its mission. Your gift to the Alumni of Color Initiative will extend the promise of a world-class educational environment to students of color now and in the future. If you have already pledged an amount to support the Brown Annual Fund, I hope you will consider offering endowment support to the Alumni of Color Initiative in addition to your pledge payment. When Brown and Pembroke students walked out in the name of change forty years ago, the University’s future as a champion of diversity was unknown—but those actions began a monumental institutional shift. The people who live, work, and learn at Brown today reflect our multicultural world; the University’s dedication to upholding an environment of flourishing diversity has never been greater than it is right now I am proud of the fact that Brown is no longer virtually a white, male institution. The University has the ability to produce resilient, well-rounded people, who now have a new antenna to better understand those in their own communities and to question people in a different way. There is the potential to see and sense things differently, and there is virtually unlimited value to what Brown is beginning to do. Back in 1968, when we presented a letter that began with “Dig It,” we were trying to get the University to understand something important, something meaningful. Brown heard us; Brown began to understand. Those of us who were part of the march to the Congdon Street Baptist Church confronted and addressed issues of inequality and injustice, as did everyone who has taken an active role in creating a more diversified Brown after us: through the 1972 Third World student protests; the occupation of University Hall in 1975; the 1983 sit-in in support of the Third World Center; the John Hay Library takeover in 1985; the 1996 University Hall takeover in support of need-blind financial aid; and many, many others. Today’s scholars, teachers, and researchers are benefitting from our being a voice of important change at the University. Imagine all we, the alumni of color community of Brown University, can accomplish for Brown if we keep walking forward. Thank you for your thoughtful consideration.
Sincerely,
Kenneth H. McDaniel ’69