Penn’s organization for Black student life on campus has provided outreach, collaboration, and unity since 1998.
UMOJA, an umbrella organization for Black student life on campus, celebrates its 25th anniversary this academic year. The group’s primary role is collaboration and advocacy, says Shannon Brooks, a third-year student from New York City studying real estate and legal studies in the Wharton School. She and Ngozi Agoh, a third-year student from Spring, Texas, studying psychology, are the group’s co-chairs.
Serving on the board “showed me how much the Black community really needs from Penn and how important UMOJA is in helping to get those things for Black students,” says Agoh, who joined organization’s board in 2022.
Since its inception in 1998, UMOJA has spearheaded the Du Bois College House renovation; the 2014 ARCH renovation, when the cultural centers moved into the building; and the reimagining of the ARCH building. Most recently, UMOJA has secured priority housing at Du Bois College House for Robeson-Cooper Scholars, about 15 of whom are chosen each year for their interdisciplinary scholarship and interest in social justice.
The group serves as the political voice for Black students, advocating for representation and public safety, as well as providing funding and compiling resources for students. Brooks says.
“UMOJA gives students a certain confidence to tap into cultural or academic opportunities,” says Brian Peterson, director of Makuu: The Black Cultural Center, who works closely with UMOJA’s board. “They know that they have this community behind them.”
Makuu, which was founded in 2000, came about in response to a need to support Black students that UMOJA identified, Peterson says. “Part of what I love about UMOJA is its ability to bring Black Penn together to ask, What is it that your constituents are experiencing? How can we advocate? How can we mobilize? How can we tap into our alumni base? How can we speak on your behalf before administrators?”
UMOJA was started by Rasool Berry, now a teacher, pastor, and media producer, and Curtis K. Redding, a senior manager at Deloitte. Berry, who graduated in 1999 from the College of Arts and Sciences, was president of the Black Student League during his second year at Penn. The following year, he did an independent study with Tukufu Zuberi, professor of sociology and the Lasry Family Professor of Race Relations, surveying the student body and looking at the issue of Black student recruitment and retention. This resulted in a paper called “What Every Black Student at Penn Should Know,” which gave rise to UMOJA, Berry says.
