Black Terp alumni share their experiences for Black History Month

Saba Tshibaka, senior philosophy, politics and economics major, expresses admiration for Black UMD alumni who helped pave the way for Black student life on campus. (Auzinea Bacon/The Black Explosion)

Black University of Maryland alumni described their time as students during the “Say It Loud: A Black Terpspective” virtual panel on Thursday.

The first African-American student to attend the university was Hiram Whittle in 1951. This wasn’t long before panelist Bobby McLeod’s arrival in 1967. McLeod was a founder of UMD’s Black Student Union (BSU) and was the organization’s first president. He’s currently the president and CEO of SpringWater One, McLeod Business Group and HomeGrower.

“We told [the university] we represented all Black students, but we actually represented maybe five in our membership,” McLeod said.

The first members of the BSU took over a closet underneath a stairway for their meeting space. Sandra Dawson Long Weaver, class of 1974, said that BSU was a place for students to gather and get to know each other. She is now the managing partner and founder of Tea and Conversations, networking communications and educational event for women.

“The BSU also became home to the Black Explosion,” said Weaver, the second editor of the university’s first and only Black newspaper.

The paper would cover and advocate issues regarding Black students and professors. After working on the paper, the students would go to Ledo’s Pizza, which hosts a chain of pizzerias in the Mid-Atlantic region.

“It was a joy, it was a love to write for the paper,” Weaver said about her experience as a Black student journalist.

With an increase in prominent Black Greek life and facilities, George Braxton, current chief diversity and inclusion officer for Virginia’s Department of Wildlife Resources, said that Maryland had “become a hub for Black college life in the D.C. area.”

The 1980s featured Braxton, the spokesman for the university’s Black coalition, which helped tie together Black campus organizations and their events. At the time, a group called the Monarchists took over the university’s SGA and controlled funding. This turn of events was detrimental to Black student organizations in need of budgets.

“It was a time where we flexed our muscles but we were able to do that because of the foundation that had been laid prior to us getting there,” Braxton said, recognizing the efforts of students before him.

For Walt Williams, who played 11 seasons for the NBA before becoming a financial advisor, attending UMD in the ‘90s was a shock. He had gone from a predominantly Black community to a predominantly white environment.

“I did not experience things like my previous guests,” Williams said. “I appreciate the things that were done beforehand because I know I would not have been able to experience college life like I did had it not been for our previous guests,” he recounted.

Saba Tshibaka, a senior philosophy, politics, and economics major, is the co-founder of the Black Terps Matter movement. The momentum and support of others, such as the actions of Black alumni, helped spur on the movement and its success.

“I’m just here in a very thankful spot. It being February and Black History Month,” said Tshibaka.

Tshibaka explained that when she talks about Black Terps Matter, an organization aimed at dismantling system racism at the university, she always has to give acknowledgment because they are not the first to start the discussion.

“I think everyone that’s sitting here right now is the epitome that Black Terps matter,” Tshibaka said. “It’s people saying that Black students at UMD do indeed matter and that we deserve a voice.”