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Making Space for Themselves: The Barnard Organization of Soul Sisters’ 1969 List of Demands

Authored by Jennifer Loubriel

In February 1969, the Barnard Organization of Soul Sisters wrote “The Ten Demands” to Barnard College President Martha Peterson, pictured above. Based off of their experiences on campus, their demands were: curriculum that includes Black studies across the board, nationwide recruitment of Black students, flexible financial aid policies, library materials that are about Black studies and culture, an orientation program by and for Black students, revamping the “Special Students” program, a Black-only study space on campus, selective living for Black students, Soul Food in the cafeteria, and an end to the policing of Black bodies on campus.

Amid the backdrop of the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements, Black college students paved the way for campus protests across the United States in the 1960s. Due to an increased presence of Black students at primarily white institutions (P.W.I.s), a number of systemic issues and needs were cropping up. This included recruitment and retention, financial aid, racially sensitive support services, culturally competent curriculum, and social facilities (Gamson, Peterson, and Blackburn 1980, 260). Colleges became hotbeds of activism as Black students fought against institutional racism and stood in solidarity with local community organizers (Biondi 2012). In the late 1960s, Morningside Heights was no stranger to Black student organizing. In spring 1968, students at Columbia University, Barnard College’s brother school, had organized protests against the white supremacy of the institution (Bradley 2003). The events of that protest directly led to the founding of the Barnard Organization of Soul Sisters (B.O.S.S.), whose goals were to center Black women’s issues on campus (Rosenberg 2004, 241).

In February 1969, B.O.S.S. wrote “The Ten Demands” to President Martha Peterson regarding the treatment of Black students at Barnard. They felt that the college’s administration showed “a lack of sensitivity and a lack of understanding” towards Black students (Barnard Organization of Soul Sisters 1969). B.O.S.S. outlined their experiences with misogynoir on campus and from the administration. They offered these demands as structural changes to fight that discrimination. These demands were not about separatism or segregation, as some argued would happen (Rooks 2006, 68 – 72). Instead, it was a means for B.O.S.S. to tell their P.W.I. that the institution had not been supporting them correctly and how to change that.

While B.O.S.S.’s demands were overall rejected by President Peterson, some of them were met (Peterson 1969). That spring, three new Black faculty members were appointed to the college (Barnard College 1969). Long-term, other demands were also implemented. Africana studies courses were offered, and the Africana Studies Program became an official academic department in 2013 (Barnard College 2013). Furthermore, many of B.O.S.S.’s demands still resonate today. This past year, Black students have renewed discourse about feeling unsafe with Public Safety Officers on campus because of their discriminatory treatment towards students of color (Najam-Franks 2019). Forty years later, it’s clear that some of B.O.S.S.’s demands still need to be institutionally addressed.

Overall, “The Ten Demands” presents a Vincentian perspective because it was working to “combat the root causes of injustice and create paths to a more equitable world” (St. John’s University 2019a). As part of a group that has been historically marginalized in P.W.I.s, the Black women of B.O.S.S. worked to make their voices heard. Each demand, from culturally relevant classes to increased financial aid, emulated a Vincentian passion for challenging social injustices (St. John’s University 2019b). B.O.S.S. not only fought for themselves, but for all future Barnard students’ rights to a safe and equitable college experience.

References

Barnard College. 1969. Black Faculty Appointments. Spring 1969. Barnard Organization of Soul Sisters, 1969-2013. Box 1, folder 3. Barnard Archives and Special Collections, New York, NY.

Barnard College. 2013. “Africana Studies at Barnard Elevated to Full Academic Department.” October 8, 2013. https://barnard.edu/news/africana-studies-barnard-elevated-full-academic-department.

Barnard Organization of Soul Sisters. 1969. “The Ten Demands: Proposals presented to President Peterson by the Barnard Organization of Soul Sisters on February 24.” Barnard Alumnae, Spring 1969: 9-10. http://digitalcollections.barnard.edu/object/7555/barnard-alumnae-spring-1969#page/10/mode/2up. 

Biondi, Martha. 2012. The Black Revolution on Campus. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Bradley, Stefan. 2003. “‘Gym Crow Must Go!’ Black Student Activism at Columbia University, 1967-1968.” The Journal of African American History 88(2): 163-181. doi:10.2307/3559064.

Gamson, Zelda F., Marvin W. Peterson, and Robert T. Blackburn. 1980. “Stages in the Response of White Colleges and Universities to Black Students.” The Journal of Higher Education 51(3): 255-267. doi:10.2307/1981008.

Najman-Franks, Marianna. 2019. “Demands for Transparency and Equitable Campus Security Erupt Following Barnard Public Safety Viral Video.” Columbia Spectator, April 24, 2019. https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2019/04/18/demands-for-transparency-and-equitable-campus-security-erupt-following-barnard-public-safety-viral-video/. 

Peterson, Martha. 1969. “Miss Peterson Replies at Convocation March 3.” Barnard Alumnae, Spring 1969: 11-13. http://digitalcollections.barnard.edu/object/7555/barnard-alumnae-spring-1969#page/12/mode/2up

Rooks, Noliwe. 2006. White Money, Black Power: The surprising History of African American Studies and the Crisis of Race in Higher Education. Boston: Beacon Press. 

Rosenberg, Rosalind. 2004. Changing the Subject: How the Women of Columbia Shaped the Way We Think About Sex and Politics. New York: Columbia University Press. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=135254&site=ehost-live&scope=site. 

St. John’s University. 2019. “Vincentian Heritage.” https://www.stjohns.edu/about/history- facts/vincentian-heritage.

St. John’s University. 2019. “Our Mission.” https://www.stjohns.edu/about/history-and-facts/our-mission.