BACC came into existence during the spring quarter of 1968, when no more than 32 Black students were present here at R.I.T.. Due to the current times Blacks lived in and the loss of Martin Luther King Jr, there was a deep motivation for the organization. The group’s first goals were to increase representation and educate the RIT community about Black culture.
Through the times, BACC has had its trials and tribulations, but it has continued on and is now something greater than its founders could ever imagine.
During R.I.T's Brick City Homecoming Weekend in 2019, the 50th Anniversary of BACC was celebrated with a reunion. On that day Ostein Barnes Truit, one of the founders of the organization and a 1970 graduate of RIT was interviewed by Elizabeth Call, RIT University Archivist. During this interview he stated he was one of three African American students on campus who was living in dorms during his freshman year.
Ostein longed to have a connection with his brothers and sisters that were going through the same struggles. He believes because of this, it enabled him to be able to develop some very strong relationships with other Blacks that were on campus. Those relationships were significant to him, for they not only gathered as a group, but encouraged one another, supported one another, and knew they had a place to go with people who always had their back. This paved the way for the development of BACC, which was very important to Ostein.
First Ceremony May, 2019
The Black Awareness Coordinating Committee (BACC) organized RIT’s first student-driven Black Graduation ceremony in May of 2019.
Black students face some of the lowest degree completion rates nationally, so recognizing this accomplishment is important.
“We know how hard it is to be black in America and how hard it is to get to this point,” said Loryn Johnson, a fourth-year biotechnology and molecular bioscience student from Canal Winchester, Ohio, and vice president of BACC. “Not everyone makes it to a four-year university or even graduates high school, and so we really wanted to acknowledge their hard work.”
"Discrimination was a part of my life, and I knew how unfair discrimination was, so I believe BACC gave me that ability to be more vocal, more focused on how to move forward, and what can be done so that our voices are heard. And we can make a difference."
"And that's what got me to come back. To celebrate. I think that what's so important about BACC still being in existence, is showing that the young people who have continued the legacy, A- how important that is, and that fact that because they have, I see that as an opportunity for BACC to continue. Because (each word said with emphasis) it's still very much needed."
"...I pray that as an individual -- individually, on my own, but also connectively with others, that I can remember the significance and the importance of social justice in this world. Social justice for the immigrant, social justice for my Black brothers and sisters, social justice for the poor, social justice for those who, because they don't have a voice for themself, that I am required as an individual to see what I can do to make a difference."
