BJJBCC Renovation and Expansion Project

Vanderbilt University has undertaken a $2.5 million renovation and expansion of the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center in an effort to advance the University's goal of achieving meaningful diversity that will benefit all students.

Dedicated in 1984 in memory of Vanderbilt's first African-American student who enrolled 50 years ago, "The House," as it is known, provides educational and cultural programming for the University and Nashville communities. The project, approved by the Executive Committee of the Board of Trust in February 2003, will enable the center to become "a place of learning and community for African-American students and all of our students of all backgrounds," said Chancellor Gordon Gee.

The current 4,100-square-foot building, located in the heart of the Vanderbilt campus, will be upgraded to include a lounge area for students, three offices, a library, a computer lab with 12 computer stations and a seminar room that will accommodate approximately 20 students. In addition, an approximately 4,000-square-foot adjoining building will include a multipurpose space that could accommodate a platform stage and would seat 100 people for classes, lectures, performances and gatherings. The new space will also include a catering kitchen, two offices, storage and a gallery for art in a connecting link to the existing building. Work began summer 2003 and should be completed by the start of the fall 2004 semester.

"The project meets a compelling strategic goal," to "create on this campus a unique living and learning community," Gee said.

Yollette Jones, the center's acting director, said, " The center was dedicated initially and stands even now as the most tangible commitment of the University to its African-descended faculty, staff and students. It is only appropriate that the center reflect the University's continuing efforts to serve proudly the needs of the entire Vanderbilt community.

"The center's expansion will provide us with a very much improved physical plant and new opportunities to promote understanding of African-descended culture," she said.

With the planned improvements, the Johnson Black Cultural Center should be better able to attract "a broad cross-section of Vanderbilt students," Gee said. Rather than a campus in which diversity is a parallel experience, the center will help create a "cross-stitched" community, he added.

The Black Cultural Center is a member of the Association of Black Culture Centers from which it received a commendation for facilitating the retention and graduation of African-descended students.

[Adapted from News from Vanderbilt, 3 March 2003]

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