African Students Center records (University of Rochester)

The African Student Center was opened in 1964 at the University of Rochester by the United States Department of State. It was the second African Student Center to open in the United States; the first was established at Lincoln University. The goal of the Center was to allow young adults from Africa the opportunity to obtain a higher level of education that was, oftentimes, not available to them in their home countries. Students were chosen based on their previous levels of educational success, their long-term goals of helping their country, and their leadership potential.

While at the University of Rochester’s African Student Center, students would take courses through the University School, a division of the University that offered evening and summer classes to provide students with more flexible schedules. Students started out with a light academic load, often in preparatory classes for the standard classes other University School students took. If the African students were successful, they could increase their class load to that of a full-time student to continue working toward their chosen degree. Some students enrolled in the College at the University of Rochester on a full-time basis; others transferred to other institutions across the United States. The Center worked with the African-American Institute (AAI), which administered the State Department’s scholarship program for African students pursuing higher education in the United States and which oversaw placement of students at colleges after they had completed their orientation program at the African Student Center.

The Center closed in September 1967. A Rochester Times-Union article published on 27 September 1967 connected the closure to budgetary concerns. According to the article, funds were allocated by the State Department based on the assumption that a majority of students would return to their home countries after completing their undergraduate degrees, but some funding was also available for those who wanted to pursue advanced degrees in the United States. When more students chose to remain in the United States to further their studies than had been anticipated, the overall budget was insufficient to support the program as a whole.