THINGS TO KNOW
Learn about Black orgs and resources for Black students on campus and in Evanston!
WHAT IS FOR MEMBERS ONLY?
FMO is the Northwestern University's Black Student Alliance. We encourage political, social, cultural and intellectual unity and growth within at Northwestern University's Black students and its broader community.
Throughout the year, FMO puts on programming alone and in collaboration with other student groups to provide space for Black students to build community and bask in their Blackness. Some of the programs include the Black to School Barbecue in the fall, State of the Black Union Address, Harambee, our annual Spring Break Trip, The Block Party, as well as general body meetings and smaller informal events. Being one of the largest student groups within NU, FMO dedicates its time to making Northwestern University the best environment it can be for the NU Black community.
HISTORY OF BLACK STUDENTS AT NORTHWESTERN
Prior to 1966, Northwestern University was essentially homogeneous in racial, religious, and socioeconomic terms. One Black student wrote in a letter to the Northwestern Daily in spring 1966: “Race is not a problem because the Negro does not exist here.” The truth of this statement would fade quickly, for in fall 1966, 54 Black freshmen entered. The number of Black students rose from five enrolled in the class entering in 1965 to 186 students in the class which arrived in the fall of 1973.
Total enrollment during that short period ballooned from about two dozen to approximately 700, nearly 10% of the undergraduate population. The increase in Black student enrollment was the direct consequence of a decision made by Northwestern University administrators to actively recruit in Black urban centers, particularly Chicago. With seed money from the Wieboldt Foundation and the incentive of continuing support from the Higher Education Act of 1965, Northwestern instituted a program, Summer Academic Workshop (SAW), which eventually led to the matriculation of the 54 freshmen.
The University invited Black students to join the Northwestern University community, unaware that a significant Black presence might present a fundamental challenge to the University’s social structure. The University had assumed that, in the spirit of 1960’s-style integration, the new Black students would quietly assimilate into the dominant structure. They failed to recognize that the prevailing social scene was violent and inhospitable. Black students did not arrive as blank slates.
Black students came to Northwestern with a unique cultural and social history that demanded acknowledgement. Neither the curriculum nor the social life on campus recognized the unique perspectives or the cultural and social requirements of the new group. Pressures for change mounted and exploded, catalyzed by the shocking assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in early April 1968. On May 3-4, 1968, according to oral and recorded accounts, 110 of 120 Black students on campus occupied 619 Clark Street, the Bursar’s Office, presenting Northwestern with a list of demands. The occupation lasted 38 hours.
Northwestern agreed to increase the number of Black applicants so the numbers of enrolling Black students would approximate the percentage of African Americans in the national population, to incorporate Black studies into the curriculum, and to create a home base for Black students to congregate and pursue their own social, cultural, and political agendas. The physical facility won by the students — popularly known as the House — was first located at 619 Emerson, and in 1972-73, was moved to a larger facility at 1914 Sheridan Road.
BLACK STUDENTS AT NORTHWESTERN TODAY
This space has now been renamed "The Black House" and is still located at 1914 Sheridan Road. The Black House continues to serve as a safe space for Black students and Black student organizations. Throughout the year, The Black House houses a variety of activities and spaces in which Black students can relax, study and/or engage with one another. However, the work for Black liberation on campus is not over. All of the Bursar's Takeover demands have not been met. Agitation and escalation are woven into the creation of FMO, FMO will continue to bring the vision of the Bursar's Takeover organizers and other Black students into fruition.