Black Action Society: The Representative Body of Black Students

In 1969, the Black Action Society took over the computer center on the 8th floor of the Cathedral of Learning and held a sit-in for over 5 hours. During this sit-in, the Black students presented demands to Chancellor Posvar, which included appointing more Black faculty and staff, establishing an institute for black studies, and recruiting more Black students. This article outlines Chancellor Posvar's response to these demands.

On November 19, 1976, 150 members of the Black Action Society presented a list of demands to the Student Government Board during a meeting. These demands included the support of Black rule in southern Africa, denouncement of apartheid, an increase in Black enrollment at Pitt, and more financial support for Black student activities. This demonstration lasted 3 hours. 

In 1978, The Pitt Union Program Council (PUPC) decided to change its rules regarding concerts; student organizations were no longer allowed to produce their own shows and instead would need to go through a promoter. The Black Action Society decided to submit a letter to the Student Government Board under protest, stating that BAS should be able to produce their own shows without a promoter and the PUPC should not be allowed to break tradition. 

In the wake of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination and subsequent uprisings around the country, Black students at Pitt created the Black Action Society (BAS) in 1968.  BAS members held the Computer Center Sit-in on January 15, 1969, the day Dr. King would have turned 40, in service of their goal to transform the campus and community for Black students. They presented a list of demands to Chancellor Wesley Posvar and the administration which included recognizing BAS as the official representative body for Black students on campus and creating a Black recruitment team. Since then, BAS has continued to support the Black community and stress the importance of diversity and inclusion on and off-campus. Some of their accomplishments include creating a Black Studies Department, increasing the Black student body, and recruiting African American professors and administrators. In addition to on-campus activism, BAS also created a sense of Black joy on campus. One of the demands of the Pitt administration was to create an Afro-American Research Center at the Hillman Library. This center eventually became a spot on campus where Black students were able to hang out and be themselves. BAS also hosted multiple events for the Black community, like Black Week, Black homecoming, and musical events.

Title Citation: Black Action Society (BAS), “Demands of Black Action Society,” The Blue, Gold and Black Digital Archive, https://pittbgb.omeka.net/admin/items/show/147.