DuBois House looks back on its 25 years

The W.E.B. DuBois College House has seen its share of bad times, weathering bomb threats, police harassment and charges of reverse racism. But good times rolled this weekend for the house's 25th anniversary, as the University community gathered "to celebrate 25 years of hardship, challenge, brilliance, excellence and protest" at the house, according to DuBois Faculty Master Howard Stevenson. The weekend was a time to connect the past and present. Thursday night's opening ceremony featured Rasool Berry, president of the Black Student League, and Cathy Barlow, DuBois' founder. Berry, a College junior, illustrated the weekend's theme of remembering with an African proverb, "A lion's story will never be known as long as the hunter is the one telling it." Barlow, the night's keynote speaker, gave a first-hand oral history of the house, speaking emotionally of struggling with the University to found the house, as well as the Afro-American Studies Program, 25 years ago. The night, though upbeat, did not celebrate a complete victory. "Has there been a change in the status quo?" Barlow asked in calling for continued activism to increase what she described as unequal University funding for DuBois. After the speech, Berry said he admires Barlow greatly, noting that "her stories are tremendous?. She brings an energy and an optimism to the dialogue on black permanence." After the speeches, the floor was opened for alumni to tell their stories. Many spoke passionately of the battles they fought and racism they experienced at the University. Several speakers also expressed a desire to become involved in the house, a goal Stevenson called another aim of the weekend. A full slate of workshops Friday focused on topics ranging from career advice to black pride and African culture. The event attracted more than 50 people, including a group of eight students from University City High School. At a workshop entitled, "Hip-Hop & Its Culture," the audience and panelists discussed what constitutes hip hop culture and how fans should relate to its less artistic forms. The lively discourse went so well that participants booed when organizers wrapped up the workshop to keep on schedule. The UCHS students were especially impressed with the workshops, agreeing with 10th-grader Denise Brown's comment that they were "interesting." "We got a lot out of them," she added. Saturday featured a Black Alumni Society reception and a formal ball in the evening, which drew more than 250 people to chat, eat and groove to the beat of Inspiration, an a cappella group which performs gospel music. Stevenson said reaction to these events, as well as the entire weekend, was so positive that some of them may be repeated on a yearly basis. A jazz brunch Sunday morning, keynoted by Lorene Cary, an English Department lecturer, closed the weekend. Cary's speech on self-determination, said Stevenson, addressed DuBois' primary mission -- "integrating who you are culturally with your academics." Cary, described by a former student as a "very powerful speaker," discussed each student's responsibility to fight the odds, rather than "just being an automaton" who lets others set the rules. Citing W.E.B. DuBois as someone who "far exceeded what he was supposed to do," she noted, "I keep him as an inspiration."