MyVU

Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center opens new spaces to serve students

Assistant Dean of Students and Director of the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center Rosevelt Noble (right) and Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos in the new Graduate and Professional Student Lounge at the center. The lounge, which was dedicated Feb. 16, features portraits of the first African American graduate and professional students at Vanderbilt. (Vanderbilt University)

Vanderbilt leaders, students, faculty and staff celebrated the opening of three new dedicated spaces Feb. 16 to serve students and build community at the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center.

Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos spoke to the group, and Center Director Rosevelt Noble shared a high-level overview of his Lost in the Ivy project, an extensive and comprehensive archive of African American achievements, history and leaders at Vanderbilt, both past and present.

The new spaces include a community room for undergraduates lined with wallpaper that Noble and students have created featuring news stories chronicling African American history at Vanderbilt; a graduate and professional student study lounge featuring portraits of African American pioneers at the university; and a new resource room that will bring representatives from various student support services across campus to the center to assist students weekly.

The event was part of a packed month of daily activities and programs that the Black Cultural Center has led to celebrate Black History Month.