Though the University has only regularly admitted black students since the 1950s, these students have seized the opportunity to lead their peers.
The University has elected eight black student council presidents in only 56 years since the first black student enrolled at the University.
The success of black students in leadership roles is not unique to the University. According to a recent study by the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, black students are "quite commonly" elected student body president at the nation's highest-ranking schools. Altogether, the University and 24 of the other top 29 schools nationwide have elected approximately 88 black student body presidents since the end of the Civil War, according to the report.
Black Student Council Leaders
In 1969, Graduate Arts and Sciences student James Roebuck was the first black student elected Student Council president. Today, Roebuck is a delegate in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, where he has served since 1985.
Although Roebuck's election occurred more than 35 years ago, African-American Affairs Dean M. Rick Turner said Roebuck is still remembered by many as an influential student.
"I've heard about him," Turner said. "His name stands tall; I think that those who have [succeeded] him have seen that name and knew that name as a role model."
Roebuck recalled that during his term, Student Council was able to assist the University during a time of dramatic social change. Roebuck said Council worked to encourage black students to come to the University and to address the movement toward coeducation at the University.
"I think the lasting thing is that we got students to really think about how society was changing [and] to think about ways the University could and should change," Roebuck said.
After Roebuck served as Student Council president, another black student did not hold the position until the 1990-1991 school year, when Lee Barnes Jr. was elected president.
Roebuck said he does not understand why there was a 20-year gap between his presidency and the election of the second black Student Council president.
"The real measure of change and success is that there's a second and a third," Roebuck said. "To the degree that that didn't happen, it's a disappointment."
Since Barnes's term, black Student Council presidents have been elected much more frequently. Andre Morgan served in the position from 1991-1992 and was followed by Terry Gray from 1994-1995, Carlos Brown from 1995-1996, Howard Foard, III from 1998-1999, Daisy Lundy from 2003-2004 and Jequeatta Upton, who concludes her term as president this spring.
Upton said she thinks the success of black students in the Council is largely due to the diversity of opinions present in Council. Rather than reaching out to particular groups of students, Council's approach has been to encourage representation of all viewpoints, Upton explained.
Upton also noted that some of the University's potential black leaders may be drawn to the position of Student Council president because of the "open-ended" possibilities for action.
"I think that part of it is just the fact that Student Council affords you a lot of freedom in the role," Upton said. "You have the opportunity to make the community better."
Turner said despite the success of black student leaders at the University, each has had to deal with the issue of racism.
"The subtleness of racism has always prevailed," Turner said.
Throughout the years, many student leaders have been able to overcome racism to a large degree, Turner added, through the support of family, University administrators and students.
Turner and Upton both said recent occurrences of racism on Grounds have likely strengthened the University's black community as well as the determination of black student leaders to succeed.
Black Leadership beyond Student Council
While black students have held leadership positions in a variety of organizations, Student Council has had an especially high incidence of black leadership.
The Honor Committee and the University Judiciary Committee are two organizations which have both experienced the benefits of black leadership but still strive to increase black participation.
Current University Board of Visitors member and Honor Committee chair from 1985-1986 noted that her position as a black leader at the University enhanced her abilities, as her race gave her "a perspective and sensitivity to issues."
Key said she recalls a high level of participation by black students in the Honor Committee and in other student organizations during her time at the University.
"When I think of my peers, they were very heavily involved in a range of activities," Key said.
Currently, however, leaders of some student organizations said they still seek to increase diversity.
"The [Honor] Committee is a homogenous group," newly elected Honor Chair Alison Tramba said. "We want to make diversity a priority."
Tramba said Honor has begun to reach out to minority students when recruiting new support officers who could eventually become executive committee members.
"There's a tradition within the honor system of friends recruiting friends to be support officers," Tramba said, noting that the increased diversity of the support officer pool will likely help diversity within the committee continue to grow.
The UJC also hopes to expand the diversity of its membership, said Raleigh Anne Blank, the recently elected UJC chair.
While blacks and other minorities are represented on the nine-member executive board of the committee, Blank said she does not think the diversity of her committee fully represents the diversity of the University community.
UJC hopes to educate more community members about its role in the University community during the fall activities recruitment period in order to attract more students to the Committee, Blank said.
"We're hoping in the [fall] activities fair, we'll be able to get in touch with the BSA [Black Student Alliance] or the MRC [Minority Rights Coalition]," Blank said.
University Culture & Black Involvement
While many of their peers have taken on leadership roles in the community, not all black students are taking full advantage of the opportunities available to them at the University, Turner said.
"I'm always concerned about the lack of African-Americans taking full advantage of University life," Turner said.
Turner said that the racism at the core of American culture could discourage some students from participating actively.
"We will always be dealing with this problem," Turner said. Black students "don't feel as comfortable as they would like to feel" when participating in activities, he added.
Turner said the presence of black leaders in University organizations can have a large impact on the community.
"Any time there's [a black] student actively involved at that level, other students [and prospective students] are going to see that," Turner said. "They're role models."
While there is no easy way to increase diversity within University organizations, Turner said progress recently has been made at the University. Turner said one example of progress was the University's decision to hire Bill Harvey, chief officer for diversity and equity.
Harvey said his office is working to encourage minority students to increase their involvement in extracurricular activities.
"I've spoken to student leaders from both the African-American and Hispanic communities," Harvey said. "I encourage them to not pass up on being in engaged in everything from drama to student government."
Cultivating Future Black Leadership
Turner said that in order to encourage future black student leadership, University administrators and students are reaching out to the black community in Charlottesville.
Turner said his office is working to support young black children in the Charlottesville community in the hopes of encouraging them to go to college one day.
"We have a tutoring program for children from the community that is cosponsored with the college chapter of the NAACP," Turner said. "We want children to come and see the University so they can believe they can come here when they [come] of age."
College to Congress: What Goes Wrong?
According to the report by the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, all black members of the U.S. House of Representatives come from districts where black voters make up a larger percentage of the vote than other ethnic groups. Additionally, only one African-American, Barack Obama, serves in the Senate.
Roebuck said he thinks there is a difference between politics in college and "real" politics, but noted that the ability to get elected depends on whether a politician is "able to articulate the needs of [his] constituency."
Turner also said he thinks there is a difference between college and national elections.
"Students have no real power," Turner said. "This is play power."
Turner said many of the black students who choose not to run for Council understand the office holds little power.
"This is practice," Turner said. "It's two different ball games."
Politics Prof. Larry J. Sabato said the increasing trend in the number of black students elected is a positive sign for the future of American politics.
Sabato said he does not expect a black politician to run for president in 2008, though both Democrat Obama and Republican Condoleezza Rice could be considered for vice presidential candidacy.
Sabato added that some of the districts currently represented by black congressmen have populations with nearly as many white citizens as black citizens.
"It does suggest that over time, Americans are becoming more tolerant and inclusive in their voting habits," Sabato said. "There's no reason to think that students would suddenly change their approach" to voting when they leave college.
Sabato explained that even though a student council president does not hold nearly the level of power that the American president wields, students approach national and student elections with similar philosophies.
"When people vote, they express their values," Sabato said. "That's true regardless of what office, whether you're voting for school board or president of the United States."
While progress is being made, equal representation in Congress will not come immediately, Sabato added, as change can take a long time.
Harvey agreed, saying "ideally at some point, people are going to realize we should vote for [the best representative], irrespective of gender, race or ethnicity."
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