Lyllye Reynolds-Parker Black Cultural Center

Despite its reputation as a state of progressive liberal ideals, Oregon’s history is marked by virulent racism and codified discrimination. Visioned by settlers as a “white utopia,” it was the only state admitted to the Union which practiced Black exclusion (laws and policies that prohibit Black people from owning property, making contracts or simply being within state borders) or enshrined it in its Bill of Rights [1]. Eugene, considered a sundown town until 1927, boasted one of Oregon’s strongest Ku Klux Klan chapters, and overall, the state had the highest KKK membership per capita in the US. Against these odds, a small Black community emerged in Eugene by the 1950s. But even as discrimination became illegal thanks to new public accommodations and fair housing laws, the legacy of prejudice and racism persisted well into the latter half of the 20th century. 

In the context of these inequalities and the national Civil Rights Movement, the UO Black Student Union (BSU) submitted a list of demands and grievances to university president Arthur Flemming on April 8, 1968. Processing the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King just days earlier, they called for immediate action by the administration to reduce racial tension on campus, eradicate inhumane acts and attitudes of racism and provide more academic and financial resources for Black students [1]. This included implementing an African American studies curriculum, hiring more Black professors, increasing scholarships and allocating dedicated space for Black and other minority students to gather and study. Admin responded by opening a dialogue with students and providing some resources, namely creating 75 new scholarships to incoming black students through Project 75. But despite this initial movement, the majority of the BSU’s demands were not met, and much remained to be desired in the way of racial inequality and cultural resources at the UO. 

Nearly 50 years later, another wave of Black student activism emerged. In 2015, the national Black Lives Matter movement gained steam, and protests at the University of Missouri inspired members of numerous UO Black student organizations — including, of course, the BSU, Black Women of Achievement, Black Male Alliance and the QTBIPOC groups in the Multicultural Center — to mobilize in Eugene. They organized meetings, rallies, teach-ins and die-ins which brought thousands of students on campus together in the name of racial justice and equality between December 2014 and November 2015 [2]. A handful of student leaders cohered to form the Black Student Task Force (BSTF), and on November 12, 2015, they issued a set of demands to UO president Schill which were eerily similar to those of 1968. Among them was once again the need to provide physical space for Black Students to build community and share culture, as well as more calls to increase students’ resources and rename campus buildings that had namesakes with racist origins [3].

Out of the BSTF meeting with Schill came the pursuit of a Black Cultural Center (BCC) — which taskforce members worked extensively to plan and build student support for — as well as meeting with donors to gather funding [4].

In January 2017, Schill announced the UO would move forward with the BCC thanks to successful fundraising, and in October 2018 students and community gathered for a groundbreaking ceremony and celebration at the future location on East 15th Avenue between Moss and Villard streets. A year later, on October 12, 2019, the center opened its doors to the public as the Lyllye Reynolds-Parker Black Cultural Center. Reynolds-Parker was a longtime Eugene resident and beloved advisor to many Black students (see page 34). Like her warm and welcoming spirit, the BCC serves to academically, culturally and communally nourish students. 

Today, there is still much work to be done on campus in further pursuit of racial equality. Out of 17 demands presented between 1968 and 2015, only three have been met [5]. Other wins included the renaming of a now demolished Hamilton Hall wing to “Unthank” (previously named for Frederick Dunn, a KKK leader) and denaming of University Hall (previously named for Matthew Deady, a pro-slavery federal judge), as well as the creation of the Umoja Black Scholars Academic Residential Community. And though the contributions of Black students to the university and their own communities are immeasurable, their presence at UO has only meagerly increased: in 1974, they made up about 1.4% of the overall student body (earliest data available), and in 2024, that number had only increased to 2.9% [6]. But there is true hope in the creation of a physical space dedicated to Black students. Black Power activists have been on the forefront of revolutionary struggles in the United States not only because they have struggled for equal rights and resources, but also because they have fought for more human relationships between people. The BCC is a powerful place for Black students to persist in forging relationships, building community and organizing for liberation.