Black Student Union Members Stage Sit-in at University of Washington

After months of being ignored by the University of Washington administration, the recently formed Black Student Union, staged a surprise occupation of the offices of UW President Charles Odegaard on May 20th, 1968.   The BSU members demanded that the UW take steps to amend the overwhelming lack of minority representation on its campus. Among the BSU’s specific demands was a budget allocation for $50,000 to be spent developing an expanded black studies program.

At approximately 5 p.m. that evening, after spending most of the day demonstrating outside the UW Administration Building, some 25 BSU members and supporters entered Odegaard’s office suite on the Ad Building’s third floor, where a meeting of the UW Faculty Senate executive committee was taking place. By 7 p.m., the number of sit-in participants had grown to more than 50, and bags of groceries and a portable record player were brought to the group, signaling their intent to maintain the occupation as long as necessary.

Black Student Union supporters outside UW Administration Building, May 20, 1968

Sources:

Black Student Union stages sit-in at University of Washington on May 20, 1968, By Alan J. Stein (Jan 1st, 1999)

The Franklin High School Sit-in, by Tikia Gilbert

The UW Black Student Union Sit-In