Robert D. Farber University Archives and Special Collections

The end of the 1960s was a time of large-scale worldwide protests and social strife. Colleges and universities were not immune to these protests, as students fought for social change both on and off campus. Black students in the US especially protested for a more inclusive academic and social environment at colleges and universities, in particular advocating for the creation of Black studies departments and Black student centers.

In April of 1968, Black students at Brandeis pressed the university to implement such changes and presented fourteen demands to President Abram Sachar, which included greater recruitment of Black students and the creation of an African and Afro-American Studies department. The next several months saw little and slow progress in implementing these demands by Brandeis administration and faculty. However, the following academic year, Brandeis admissions representatives did travel to schools in the South in an effort to recruit more Black students. In addition,the Faculty Educational Policy Committee (EPC) considered and approved a proposal for two new concentrations, African Studies and Afro-American Studies, to be instituted in September 1969.

Black students inside Ford Hall's communication room after taking over the building.

The leaders of the Ford Hall occupation speak to the press from inside Ford Hall. (left to right: Ricardo Mellett, Bob Jones, and Roy DeBerry)

Students did not find these actions or their implementation to be a sufficient fulfillment of their demands. In the afternoon of January 8, 1969, 65 Black students of the Brandeis Afro-American Organization (BAAO), two-thirds of the university’s Black student population, occupied Ford Hall. As Ford Hall was the building which housed the university’s communications center, the occupation almost completely disrupted the university’s communication capabilities. Using the communications system, these students sent ten demands to the Brandeis administration and stated that they would not leave the building until the administration met their demands. Negotiations between the students and the administration over the fulfillment of these demands began early the next morning and would continue over the following days as the administration continuously refused to meet certain aspects of the students’ demands. Disagreement largely centered around the establishment of an autonomous Afro-American studies department and the method for choosing the director and faculty for the department.