`It's very much like a family'

W.E.B. DuBois College House celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1997. One of the celebration events was a testimonial session at the house in which alumni were allowed to publicly talk about what DuBois had meant to them. According to House Dean Sonia Elliott, "the basic consensus was that people said they could not have made it through Penn without DuBois." * About a quarter of Penn's African-American population lives in this dorm at 39th and Walnut. Eighty percent of the 185 DuBois residents are African American, while the other 20 percent are composed of students of all different ethnicities. Most say the small supportive environment and commitment to African-American culture drew them to the dorm. "I have lived all around the world and so I wanted to live somewhere where I felt comfortable," said DuBois House President Desiree Nelson, a College senior. "It's very much like a family and everyone knows everyone here," Nelson added. "Even people who don't live here feel very welcome when they walk in." Elliot, the house dean, is proof of how much some students care about DuBois. She was a resident here herself as a Penn freshman in 1984. For the last six years she has served as an administrator. DuBois' longstanding commitment to African-American culture and history is evident practically upon walking through the door. One wall of the house is dedicated to this cultural heritage, with a map and biographies of important African-American figures. And the house has an active series of programs in the community surrounding Penn, including tutoring projects and research studies. * Still, while many residents say the dorm is a vital place of resources and support, it has been the target of criticism practically since its inception. DuBois owes its existence to a group of students who fought at the height of the civil rights movement to create a residence to support and foster African-American culture. Following several sit-ins at College Hall and other forms of protest across campus, the administration agreed to the students' demands. In 1972, DuBois College House was built. The dorm is named for the influential black scholar and founder of the NAACP, who worked at Penn in the late 1800s. But although many students struggled to bring DuBois to Penn, within its first semester of existence it was attacked by the NAACP and the American Civil Liberties Union. The liberal groups felt the house promoted segregation at Penn. And this perception has not changed over the last quarter-century. Calls to get rid of the dorm still come up periodically. Elliott disagreed with the accusations of isolationism. "What is good for DuBois is good for the campus and we don't feel that anything is separate," she said. However, students said that in many ways DuBois is a self-sufficient community. "It's like the social mecca for a lot of black students on campus in terms of education, entertainment, and culture," Nelson said. And College sophomore William Anderson said that part of the reason he moved into DuBois his freshman year was because of its large African-American population. "I thought it would be a good way to meet people of my race my first year here at Penn and I once I got here I stayed," Anderson said. But Nelson adds that DuBois is not necessarily as isolated as some may think. "People who live here have a lot in common with each other, but it's what you make of it," Nelson said. "If you want to just be around other African-American students you can, but if you want to meet and interact with other students on campus you can do that too." While students have differing opinions regarding DuBois' relationship with the rest of the campus, Elliott maintained that the house is not an isolated community. "We only hold a quarter of the black population," Elliott noted. "On one hand I don't think people want to know that we exist, but on some level they know we are here." "We don't get angry but we encourage people to tell us your concerns, ask questions, and come check us out."