Founded in 1968, the African American Society (AfroAm) has provided community and spread a spirit of activism across more than five decades.
AfroAm worked to bring African-American studies programming to the university, add more books by Black authors to university libraries and, notably, in 1974 protested the presence of Stanford University professor William Shockley, known for his views that Black people were genetically inferior to white people. The event at which Shockley was scheduled to speak was subsequently canceled.
The society’s yearly Ebony Ball celebrates its history and accomplishments.
