MU renames GCB after Strickland
Published Oct. 23, 2007
As classes met inside on Friday, the General Classroom Building was officially renamed Arvarh E. Strickland Hall after MU's first black faculty member. More than 100 people gathered later that evening for a dinner in Strickland's honor.
Deputy Chancellor Mike Middleton, the School of Law's first black faculty member, said the renaming of the building is a positive step toward making itself open to diversity.
"Dr. Strickland transformed the very culture of this institution," Middleton said.
Theatre department chairman Clyde Ruffin, who was recruited by Strickland, was optimistic when he spoke of the diversity at MU.
"They (black students) no longer have to justify their presence, why they deserve to be here. The possibilities are unlimited," he said.
Strickland said despite the progress MU has made, there is still more to be accomplished. Strickland mentioned the absence of black students admitted to the medical school.
The renaming was years in the making. In 2005, the Legion of Black Collegians presented Chancellor Brady Deaton with a revised version of a list of 10 demands, first drafted in 1968. One of these demands asked the university to dedicate a building to a black leader, academic or cultural icon.
After a series of meetings between LBC members and Deaton, LBC, the Missouri Students Association and the Residence Halls Association passed joint resolutions in support of the renaming.
Deaton then presented a proposal to the Board of Curators, the UM system governing board. The board, which has the final say in the renaming of campus buildings, voted in April to approve the renaming.
Strickland Hall is the first academic building on campus named for a black person.
"I have been overwhelmed," Strickland said. "This is a tribute to Lloyd Gaines, Lucile Bluford, to all of those folks who came, and some who tried and found the doors shut in their face, and others who did enter this institution."
Gaines was the first black student admitted to MU, but he disappeared before enrolling. MU admitted Bluford but revoked her admission when they realized she was black. When the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that the school had to allow her to enroll, the School of Journalism closed its graduate program. Both Gaines and Bluford have since received honorary degrees.
In a ceremony led by Middleton, university officials and visitors paid tribute to Strickland.
"He's a leading author of black history, an active scholar and a highly respected community leader," Deaton said.
Visiting figures from Strickland's time at MU included then-history department chairman Richard Kirkendall, who appointed Strickland to a faculty post; Lincoln University professor Antonio Holland, who studied with Strickland as a graduate student; and other friends of Strickland.
"I am proud to say I know Arvarh Strickland," said Eliot Battle, retired Columbia Public Schools and Columbia College administrator. "I am prouder to say that he is my friend."
Academic Retention Services Director Linda Garth, representing the Black Faculty and Staff Organization, said the hall would be adorned with a plaque in Strickland's honor. She said the plaque would be installed later.
"We didn't anticipate the support that would be garnered in your honor, Dr. Strickland, but you will be proud of this plaque," Garth said during the ceremony.