University of Michigan - Michiganensian Yearbook (Ann Arbor, MI)

Page 30 text:

BAM ACTIVISTS targetted thei fi : Union (right) during their first da) of protests. LAST SPRING ' S PROTESTS were the third in a string of BAM strikes since 1970. oV T B BAM Ill ' s Demands Cease all publications which use a lower case b when referring to Blacks. A $5 million, five-year initiative to improve recruiting and retention of Blacks. 4 An endowment of $ 1 50,000 for the Monroe Trotter House. Tenure for all Black faculty as well as an increase of Black faculty and speedier tenure processes for Blacks. A racial harassment clause in U-M ' s rules and regula- tions. ; BAM PARTICIPANTS picketed the Union carrying pictures of Malcolm X. 26 4 BAM III

Page 29 text:

lopula JULIE ERNST AND GREGG ROGENSTEIN enjoy Rick ' s laid- back atmosphere. ORIGINALITY ISNT HARD to find at The Nectarine Ballroom on Monday nights. GOOD CONVERSATION and good friends opt for the more for- mal feel of Charlie ' s. TIE-DYED AND HOLEY-jeaned, Cindy i. ovine shoots pool in the back room of Rick ' s. BAR SCENE 25

Page 31 text:

BAM is Back Black activists decry racism at AM III, named after two pre- 1 V vious Black Ac- tion Move- ments, arose in the middle of March. Saying that they were at war with U-M, the students boycotted the Union for 24 hours one day and held a sit-in at the Fleming Building the next day. Problems were smoothed out when the Rev. Jesse Jackson arrived on campus on March 22, to meet with President Harold Shapiro and other Black leaders. Speaking to a cheering crowd in Hill Auditorium, Jackson declared, There ' s no surer way to trip and fall than to move forward while looking backward. Let ' s move on to higher ground. Tensions had started to build on January 27 when a flyer declaring open season on Blacks appeared in a Couzens lounge. A week lat- er, the campus radio station WJJX aired a phone call containing several racist jokes. BAM Ill ' s well-publicized demands included a $5 million, five-year initiative to increase Black enrollment above its current level of just over five percent. Shapiro said last spring that the Uni- versity should try to enroll 12% Blacks, which is the percentage of Blacks living in Michigan. By Michael A. Bennett EFFORTS TO SHUT the Fleming Building down failed! when workers entered through the: steam tunnels. I THE RALLY on the Union steps was one of the emotional high points of BAM III. BAM III 27