Waves of Black alumni from several years returned “home” this past reunion weekend, which took place Thursday through Saturday and specifically highlighted the class years ending in four and nine. 

Many events were held for Black alumni and current students to meet one another. At “Black Plaza” on Friday, students, faculty and staff ate Starbird together, chatted and danced. The Multicultural Alumni Hall of Fame event that took place that day also honored and inducted alumni of color, including Dana Weeks Ugwonali ’94, who was the Black Community Service Center’s (BCSC) inductee. Black graduate alumni were also able to interact with current students in events held by the BCSC and Stanford National Black Alumni Association (SNBAA). 

On Saturday, a house party took place at the Black House (BCSC). Hosted by SNBAA and the BCSC where students, staff and alumni danced to both old school and new school jams like “Can We Talk” by Tevin Campbell and “They Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar. Jaeden Clark ’27 led the dance to the song “Swag Surfin’” by Fast Life Yungstaz, instructing the crowd to move side-to-side in a line resembling ocean waves. 

Alumni also participated in a smaller traditional reunion in Ujamaa, also known as Uj, the University’s Black theme dorm. Alumni who were former residents of Uj were able to visit their old dorm rooms, reminisce and interact with current residents.

Cassandra Youngblood ’89 visited her old room, which is now where Gabby Rosado ’28 lives. Even though the room looks completely different now, Youngblood said Uj “definitely” still feels like home.

Rosado said she understands that her room holds a “legacy” of Black Stanford alumni and can “feel the energy” of that legacy. She said she knows that one day she will come back to Uj and see her dorm room as an alumna while another freshman occupies it. 

“We’ve only met today. I feel that energy, and I feel that, like, love and that, sort of, dedication to your work,” Rosado said to Youngblood.

Kim Mitchell ’89 returned to the Farm for her 35th-year class reunion. One of her favorite Stanford memories was Black Recruitment Orientation Committee Weekend (BROC), which gave students “the opportunity to experience Stanford as they were making their decision on which college to attend.” According to Mitchell, Stanford mirrored BROC through the implementation of Admit Weekend in the university.

Mitchell talked about experiencing lectures with students, sleeping on resident’s floors in Uj and going to parties with the upperclassmen during BROC weekend. The upperclassmen told them that “Stanford wasn’t always that much fun” but they didn’t believe them, she said. 

Mitchell said coming back to Stanford for the reunion weekend was “really powerful” and it allowed her and her classmates to have the opportunity to create an experience similar to those at Historically Black College or University (HBCU) reunions.

“I often hear people talk about homecoming at HBCUs and how great they are and when I look at some of the things they love about HBCU Homecomings, it’s the same things that I love about having our Black community Stanford reunion,” Mitchell said. “I really feel like we re-created the HBCU experience for ourselves at a predominantly White institution, which is kind of cool to think about.”

The Department of African and African American Studies (DAAAS) hosted a homecoming panel on Thursday where Black Alumni returned to discuss their experiences pursuing an AAAS degree at Stanford in light of the recent opening of the African and African American Studies department in January. The panel was moderated by DAAAS Student Services Officer Ashante Johnson, who helps build positive connections between students and alumni. 

At the start of the panel, Shamika Klassen ’11 opened up about her experience as a freshman trying to pursue a STEM degree.

“I got weeded out of one of my first math classes my freshman year, first [quarter],” Klassen said. “I was one of two Black people, one of three women in a class of about 40, 50 and so that experience was really damaging to my sense of self and what I thought I was capable of.”

After being “weeded out” of that class, Klassen says AAAS “found her” and said she was not only successful in the program, but the program positively impacted her. 

“I kinda got pulled into some of the [AAAS] classes…  then next thing you know I’m standing across that stage with a degree in my hand,” Klassen said. “I think that through this program, I was able to find parts of myself that I didn’t realize were lost, or that needed nurturing and cultivation.”

Jessica Anderson ’14 said the AAAS program equipped her with “language” for her experiences and was a place that “empowered” her to dream. 

“I think there are plenty of places, departments, programs where you can learn about what was but you’re not given the opportunities to dream about what could be,” Anderson said. “I think here [DAAAS] is the space where you are given permission to do those things, encouraged to do those things, coached to do those things, empowered to do those things.”

Katie Dieter, the director of Advanced Studies and Community Engaged Learning at DAAAS and an attendee of the panel, said that in her experience, Black studies tend to be “undervalued” and “underfunded” in higher education. Being part of the departmentalization of AAAS at Stanford was “special” for her, she said. 

She said she feels privileged to take part in a “legacy of people” who have fought for DAAAS and credits not only people within Stanford for supporting DAAAS but people outside the university as well.

 “I never forget that this is not just something that happens within the institution but is definitely something that is supported by our local communities as well, so it just feels really special and emotional honestly,” Dieter said. 

Dieter highlighted that “Black studies wouldn’t exist without student demand” and emphasized the need for students to show up in the “dreams for the future of DAAAS.”