This weekend the Black Alumni of Dartmouth Association will celebrate the 25th anniversary of its founding with a large gathering of African-American alumni of the College.
Director of Alumni Relations Nelson Armstrong said the event was organized to commemorate a quarter century of the association's service to the College and to discuss the alumni group's role at the College as the next century approaches.
"It's going to be an outstanding weekend," Armstrong said. "It will be a physical, academic and emotional gathering."
BADA's 25th anniversary celebration, titled "It's time ... Social, political and economic empowerment," will feature numerous events for the College's African-American alumni, including an address by English Professor Bill Cook this afternoon.
Tonight, Armstrong will officially begin the celebration with opening remarks and a welcome of the alumni the College.
Interim BADA President Morris "Rocky" Whitaker '74 will also greet the alumni today, and Judge Fritz Alexander '47, BADA's first president, will also speak.
Tomorrow morning Armstrong will address the alumni again, and other members of BADA will discuss issues facing the organization.
The afternoon will be filled with seminar panels addressing currently facing African-Americans in society, as well as recreational activities for alumni and students. And a banquet will be held tomorrow night.
"We anticipate a couple of hundred or so alums," Armstrong said.
Armstrong said although this year marks only the 25th anniversary of Dartmouth's Black Alumni Association, the legacy of African-Americans at the College stretches back much further.
The first black alumni of Dartmouth graduated in 1824, he said.
Armstrong said that in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the College's black alumni were looking for an opportunity to be involved with the College, because the College's alumni association did not always offer events that black alumni were interested in.
The Black Alumni of Dartmouth Association was founded in 1971 for black alumni, students, faculty and administrators to serve the College community and each other.
In the past, the Association has facilitated communication between black alumni and students, provided scholarship assistance and coordinated visits of black alumni speakers, Armstrong said.
He said regional groups of BADA also complete projects throughout the year.
