Sharing the Origins of the Educational Opportunity Program: Linking the CSULB campus to the Long Beach Community

This final of four webinars on the origin of the Educational Opportunity Program at California State University, Long Beach is brought to you by the Black Student Union Elders Association and the Historical Society of Long Beach. If the CSULB campus could speak, we can speculate that it would tell us a great many things about the countless changes it has seen during its 73 years of existence. We don't know quite how it would put it, but it's likely it would tell us how it has gone from a bean field to a "city on a hill;" from a small teacher's college to a sprawling urban university; from South Los Angeles-Orange County State College to California State University, Long Beach. But if we listen closely, we hear other voices, however faint. We hear the voices of presidents, deans, administrators, coaches, professors, students, faculty, and guest lecturers; but there are still others, speaking from off campus. Perhaps, if we close our eyes and open our ears, we hear the echoes of Black voices from the central city of Long Beach, too. A case can be made that EOP, Dr. Joseph White, the BSU and Black Studies would not have had the impact that they did, were it not for powerful voices from the inner city. In this webinar, we give voice to some of the people from off campus who worked with Dr. White and with student leaders when their ideas were frowned upon on campus. The speakers will briefly discuss their background and describe their roles in forming linkages between the university and the broader community. Moderators: Erroll Parker and Ayoola Fadonougbo Speakers: Ahmed Saafir Alfred Jones Sharon McLucas