2019 BAR Gala honors pillars of OHIO’s past with an eye toward the future

Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author and OHIO’s 2016 Alumnus of the Year Clarence Page, BSJ ’69, delivers the keynote address during the 2019 BAR Gala. Photo by Max Catalano, BSVC ’20

The 2019 Black Alumni Reunion Gala drew members of the 91̽�� community together for an evening that honored champions of the University’s rich legacy of diversity and capped off a four-day tradition dedicated to remembering and celebrating that legacy.

Held the evening of Sept. 14 in the Baker University Center Ballroom, the gala was the signature event of the 91̽�� Alumni Association’s Black Alumni Reunion (BAR). For more than three decades, the triennial BAR has welcomed home graduates and friends of the University for a weekend filled with opportunities to reminisce, reconnect with each other and OHIO, engage with current students, and honor those who paved the way for them and the students of today.

This year’s BAR Gala was themed “Sankofa: Looking to the Past, Anticipating a Glorious Future.”

“The knowledge and the experience we gained as Bobcats – during whatever decade – can and should be carried forward to inform OHIO’s bright future and the future of our black alumni community. This convergence of past, present and future is what we celebrate this weekend,” Janelle Simmons Coleman, BSJ ’95, a member of the 91̽�� Board of Trustees and master of ceremonies for this year’s gala, said in welcoming everyone to the event.

In looking to the past, a highlight of the evening was the presentation of the 2019 Ebony Bobcat Network’s Trailblazer Awards, established in 2012 to recognize the legacies and accomplishments of extraordinary individuals who have made remarkable contributions to the OHIO community. This year’s awards were presented posthumously to two OHIO alumni who hold special places in the University’s history and its legacy.

The 2019 EBN Trailblazer Awards were presented to:

Dr. William L. “Bill” Allen

Bill Allen, MED ’69, PHD ’77, began a 37-year career at OHIO in 1969 as an academic adviser and spent his entire professional life serving students through programs and resources offered through University College, where he went on to hold assistant dean and associate dean positions.

Carolyn Allen accepts the Ebony Bobcat Network’s Trailblazer Award on behalf of her late husband, Bill Allen, MED ’69, PHD ’77, from Clarence Harris III during the 2019 BAR Gala. Photo by Max Catalano, BSVC ’20

“His creativity and quiet persistence are legend among OHIO alumni, faculty and administrators alike,” said Clarence Harris III, a representative of the Ebony Bobcat Network’s Chicago affiliate, who presented the Trailblazer Awards. “He counseled and inspired thousands of students.”

One of the University’s leading advocates for the success of minority students, Allen created and championed 91̽��’s LINKS program, a cornerstone of support and assistance for first-year multicultural students dedicated to ensuring their success at OHIO and beyond. Allen retired in 2006 after serving OHIO for 37 years, the longest tenure for a black administrator in the University’s history. The University’s Allen Student Advising Center is named in his honor.

“It’s so wonderful to see so many old friends and meet some new friends tonight,” Carolyn Allen said upon accepting the award in her husband’s honor. “I’m so happy most of Bill’s family could be with us this evening.”

Alvin C. Adams

The evening’s second Trailblazer Award was awarded to Alvin C. Adams, BSJ ’59, a writer, scholar and activist who covered the seminal moments of the nation’s civil rights movement and began making history 60 years ago when he became one of first black Americans to earn a bachelor’s degree in journalism at OHIO.

Adams went on to work at the Chicago Daily Defender, a black daily newspaper, and Jet magazine. As a journalist, he stood side-by-side with activists on the dangerous frontlines of the civil rights movement, ensuring that their messages were brought to the public unabridged and with context. While ascending to become Jet magazine’s associate editor, Adams covered historic moments that included the marches for voting rights in Selma, Alabama; Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech; and the assassination of Malcolm X.

“He poured his heart into everything he did, whether it be his art as a photographer or his writing,” David Butcher, Adams’ nephew, said in a to his uncle.

Adams spent the last 30-plus years of his career in the field of public relations while remaining a civil rights activist. When he retired in the late 1990s, he returned to Athens County and co-founded the Multicultural Genealogical Center in nearby Chesterhill. 91̽��’s Adams Hall is named in his honor.

Alvin C. Adams III accepts the Ebony Bobcat Network’s Trailblazer Award on behalf of his late father, Alvin C. Adams, BSJ ’59, during the 2019 BAR Gala. He is pictured with Clarence Harris III, a representative of the Ebony Bobcat Network’s Chicago affiliate, and Ty Carr, MED ’00, the special assistant to the vice president for University Advancement and executive director of the Interlink Alliance. Photo by Max Catalano, BSVC ’20

“Thank you everyone for recognizing how important it is for one man to live a good life and share it with so many people,” Alvin C. Adams III said in accepting his father’s award. “I’m glad that you gave our whole family this opportunity to share his life and his legacy.”

If the Trailblazer Awards were a window into the lives of two pioneering OHIO graduates, then Clarence Page’s charismatic and rousing BAR Gala keynote speech was a game plan for how to carry their wisdom and giving spirit into the future.

A two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author and OHIO’s 2016 Alumnus of the Year, Page, BSJ ’69, is a syndicated columnist and Washington-based member of The Chicago Tribune’s editorial board. He addressed his fellow graduates with contagious energy, moving from stories about his high school journalism teacher promoting a career in the field to her students – “I was the only one who took her up on it,” Page noted – to weightier anecdotes of growing up “po” because, he said, “we were too poor to afford the o and the r.” Page quoted his grandmother when he offered a word of advice to future OHIO alumni as they prepare for their professional lives: “Someday the doors of opportunity will open, and you must be ready to step inside.”

91̽�� President M. Duane Nellis closed out the evening with gratitude, thanking Page, this year’s Trailblazer Award recipients and President Emeritus Roderick J. McDavis for their lasting contributions to the University. He also thanked all who attended in this year’s BAR, noting that their participation “shows the love and passion that our alumni have for 91̽��.”

Staying true to the evening’s theme, Dr. Nellis encouraged OHIO’s alumni to stay engaged with the University and connected to its future, emphasizing the role 91̽�� graduates play in the success of the students following in their footsteps.

“I am so proud, and our whole University is so proud, of the work that you are doing in your careers and in your communities,” he said. “Thank you for representing 91̽�� with pride, and thank you for staying involved with your alma mater.”

The evening ended with gathering on stage for a group photo and an impromptu “Electric Slide” dance to Stevie Wonder’s “As” – reminding the crowd that “I’ll be loving you always.”

Published

September 19, 2019

Author

Justin Thompson, BSJ '21