National Black Graduate Student Association - History - Founding

Founding

In May 1989, Robert M. Sellers, Todd C. Shaw, Robert Brown, Daria Kirby, Lisa Brown, and Thomas LaVeist, graduate students at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor planned and hosted a national conference to “address some of the issues that the African American community faced.” Sellers, the planning committee chairperson stated that the National Black Graduate Student Conference (NBGSC) was designed to “provide an opportunity for African American graduate students to develop professionally as well as serve as a forum for future researchers and professionals.” The first NBGSC, Social Science Research on Black America allowed black graduate students from across the country to participate in paper presentations, professional workshops, and roundtable discussions dealing with critical issues relating to the professional development of African American students and the black community. The conference had attendees from over twenty-five universities, including the University of Kentucky, Howard University, Northern Illinois University, Case Western Reserve University, and Texas A&M University.

With the help of the Office of Minority Affairs at the University of Michigan, the conference planning committee was able to host a successful three-day event. James S. Jackson, Associate Dean and Professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan credited the black graduate students with contributing to the university’s commitment to the “value of diversity in intellectual inquiry and teaching.” Dr. Jackson acknowledged that the “overwhelming response and involvement of graduate students across the country is a testament to the need and importance of this meeting.” As result of the NBGSC, the conference attendees decided to create a national organization that would address the many issues concerning black graduates that were given attention during the meeting. The National Black Graduate Student Association (NBGSA) was established at the end of the national conference in 1989. Todd C. Shaw, Doctoral Student at the University of Michigan was elected the first national president. His executive board consisted of Jacqueline M. Davis, graduate student at Mississippi State University as Vice-President, Donna Cochran, graduate student at the University of Michigan as Recording Secretary, Barbara Gates, Doctoral Candidate at the University of Michigan as Corresponding Secretary, and Minora Sharpe, graduate student at Pennsylvania State University as Treasurer.

At the second annual conference, Global Perspective on Black Cultures that was held at Mississippi State University, the attendees voted to incorporate NBGSA in the state of Mississippi. Dr. Phyllis Gray-Ray, Associate Professor of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work at the institution, served as the first National Advisory Chair and the first Executive Director of NBGSA. Mississippi State University became NBGSA's home in 1994, and the association remained in that location until 1997.