Berkeley

‘We Have a Space!’ – Fannie Lou Hamer Black Resource Center Opens at UC Berkeley

Published

10 years ago

February 24, 2017

By Sandra Messick, UC Berkeley News

The standing-room-only crowd was blessed by Corrina Gould, a member of the indigenous Chochenyo and Kerkin Ohlone, and Auntie Stella, a long-time teacher and resident of Oakland. They were entertained with music, songs and remembrances.

“I was a student here many, many years ago,” said Yvette Gullatt, vice provost and chief outreach officer at the University of California Office of the President’s Office of Diversity and Engagement.

Gullat recalled her years as a student at Berkeley: “There was nowhere for me to go, nowhere for me to find community, nowhere to meet people and reach out — part of what college is all about — so I retreated to Moffitt.”

The Fannie Lou Hamer Black Resource Center, located in the Hearst Field Annex, is named after the civil rights activist who was involved with the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee in the 1960s.

Part of the AASD, the center will be a space where Berkeley’s Black students can come together, something that is very important to this student population, which makes up just 3 percent of the student body.

Out of 29,310 undergraduates, 947 are African Americans; among 10,863 graduate students, 405 are African Americans.

“Having a space where students can come and be a community with each other is really important,” stresses Vice Chancellor of Equity and Inclusion Na’ilah Nasir, who graduated from Berkeley in 1993 when the number of Black students was at a high.

“Having a critical mass of African American students meant there was a very robust, supportive community on campus intellectually and socially. Students were able to have a complete experience.”

The resource center will also provide academic, social and cultural, and professional development services and resources.

“I hope the center will help black students not only be retained but also graduate and matriculate through the university as well as help prepare them for the next steps in their lives,” said Blake Simons, the community development specialist at AASD who was project manager for the center’s creation.

“We’re in a moment right now where this administration wants to turn back all the things that we have worked for over the years,” said Leigh Raiford, an associate professor and graduate adviser in the Department of African American Studies.

“It’s so important that think about all of the ways that we are empowered in the differences in our blackness, making space for our LGBTQ, non-gender, non-conforming, for our Muslim brothers and sisters, for all of us, for all the different ways that we are black.”

The community that came to celebrate and mark this occasion acknowledged and thanked the students for the hard work they did to make the Fannie Lou Hamer Black Resource Center a reality.

“The thing I think that this space represents and reminds us moving forward is that organizing works. Activism works. Advocating together and in concert for what you need and for what you earn and what you deserve, it works and it’s important and we will continue to do that,” said Raiford.

The center is now open to the campus community.

“When you come to our events, you’re going to get a cultural experience, an experience of how we operate at Cal, how we celebrate our blackness, how we celebrate our joy,” said Simons.

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Activism

Black Repertory Group Needs Volunteers to Help Shape the Next Generation of Artists and Leaders

Legendary performers such as Whoopi Goldberg and Danny Glover worked with and were inspired by BRG’s founders. More recently, Grammy award-winning artist Kehlani attended the Black Repertory Group Summer Day Camp for several years.

Published

3 months ago

June 26, 2026

Oakland Post

Courtesy image.

By Sean Vaughn Scott, Special to The Post

For more than 60 years, the Black Repertory Group (BRG) has changed lives through the arts.

Founded in 1964 by educators and visionaries Birel L. Vaughn and Nora Vaughn, BRG has become one of America’s oldest continuously operating Black theater institutions. For generations, it has preserved culture, developed talent, and provided opportunities for young people to discover their voices and their potential.

The results speak for themselves.

Long before international recognition, Kehlani performed on the BRG stage. During a summer day camp production of “Princess and da Frog,” she portrayed Ray, the lovable firefly whose light guided others through the darkness. Her journey is proof that today’s camper may become tomorrow’s artist, entrepreneur, educator, or leader.

Located at 3201 Adeline St. in Berkeley, BRG continues that mission through its Youth Summer Day Camp of the Arts.

BRG is currently accepting applications and maintains an open enrollment program. Students may enroll throughout the summer as space permits and immediately become part of the BRG family.

We are also proud to be a multicultural opportunity program, welcoming children and families from all backgrounds, cultures, and communities. Through theater, music, dance, public speaking, visual arts, technical theater, and leadership development, students gain confidence, discipline, creativity, and lifelong skills.

As our programs grow, so does our need for volunteers.

We are seeking community members to assist with youth mentoring, registration, costumes, set construction, painting, props, ushering, photography, social media, marketing, technical theater, and fundraising activities. Whether you volunteer for a few hours or throughout the season, your support directly impacts the lives of young people.

BRG also partners with churches, civic organizations, alumni associations, fraternities, sororities, and community groups through theater party fundraisers, group sales, and buy-out performances. These partnerships have helped organizations raise funds while supporting arts and cultural programming.

The theater also serves as the home of the Berkeley NAACP Chapter, which meets every second Saturday of the month from 1 to 3 p.m.

For more than six decades, the Black Repertory Group has remained committed to one belief: every child deserves an opportunity to shine.

The next great artist may already be among us.

The next Kehlani may already be walking through our doors.

We invite you to volunteer, enroll, participate, and become part of the legacy.

For more information please go to www.blackrepertorygroup.com, call (510) 652-2120, or email info@blackrepertorygroup.com

Sean Vaughn Scott is the director of the Black Repertory Group.

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Bay Area

UC Berkeley Named Top Public University in the U.S. and No. 7 in the World by ‘U.S. News’

Berkeley has been consistently awarded the distinction of the U.S.’s top public university since the Best Global Universities list was first published in 2014. “A strong position in the Best Global Universities rankings recognizes a school’s profound commitment to world-class research and cross-border academic excellence,” said LaMont Jones, managing editor for education at U.S. News.

Published

3 months ago

June 24, 2026

Oakland Post

Photo by Keegan Houser/UC Berkeley.

The 2026 Best Global Universities rankings evaluated 2,250 research institutions from more than 100 countries

By Lila Thulin

U.S. News & World Report has ranked UC Berkeley No. 7 in its 2026 list of the best global universities, which assesses more than 2,250 research institutions worldwide.

Berkeley also claimed the honor of top public university in the U.S.

Released on Monday, the list evaluates universities from more than 100 countries on 13 metrics such as global and research reputation (as reported by academics and peers) and number of highly cited scholarly papers.

Berkeley has been consistently awarded the distinction of the U.S.’s top public university since the Best Global Universities list was first published in 2014.

“A strong position in the Best Global Universities rankings recognizes a school’s profound commitment to world-class research and cross-border academic excellence,” said LaMont Jones, managing editor for education at U.S. News.

The rankings also assess a university’s strength in various subject areas; these assessments are separate from U.S. News’ 2026 Best Graduate Programs rankings released in April.

This year, Berkeley was named in the top three nationally in seven subject areas – environment/ecology, ecology, water resources, physics, computer science, chemistry, and engineering – and in the top five for a total of 17 subjects. Subject rankings are based heavily on scholarly publications and citations as well as reputation.

In September, U.S. News also released its 2026 Best Colleges list, in which Berkeley was also named the No. 1 public institution among American universities.

That honor joins other accolades judging campus to be the best public university in the country, such as those from Forbes, The Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education.

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Arts and Culture

Farwest Region Deltas Celebrate Centennial With “September Breakfast” Honoring Vivian Osborne Marsh

The region was established in 1925 under the leadership of Vivian Osborne Marsh, who became its first Regional Director. Marsh was a pioneering scholar and civic leader, earning recognition as the first Black woman to receive both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in anthropology from UC Berkeley.

Published

1 year ago

September 14, 2025

Oakland Post

Farwest Regional Director, Kimberly Usher, Mayor Barbara Lee, US Representative Lateefah Simon, and Farwest Regional Representative, Radiya Ajibade. Photo courtesy of Farwest Regional Photographer Vicki P. Love.

By Antoinette Porter

Hundreds of members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and their guests gathered at the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union at the University of California, Berkeley, to mark the 100th anniversary of the sorority’s Farwest Region.

Marsh went on to serve as Delta Sigma Theta’s 7th National President, where she launched the sorority’s National Library Project to expand access to books in underserved Black communities in the South. During her presidency, the organization also became a prominent voice in the civil rights movement, lobbying Congress to pass anti-lynching legislation.

Bak in the Bay Area, Marsh devoted her career to advancing educational opportunities, mentoring young people, and strengthening community life. That commitment continues to shape the region, which supports initiatives in education, social justice, and economic development. Current projects include raising scholarship funds for students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, voter education campaigns, and health and wellness programs.

A century after its founding, the Farwest Region of Delta Sigma Theta remains active across California and other western states, carrying forward Marsh’s vision of service and advocacy.