5 questions for … Yvonne Hardy-Phillips

Photo by Desireé Stover

AACC director encourages civic engagement, ‘leadership in action’

Yvonne Hardy-Phillips says TU's continuing investment in its African American students pays big dividends because "they graduate, enter professions, become community leaders and help to revitalize Baltimore."

How did you come to direct the African American Cultural Center?

I’m a TU alumna with a degree in studio art. As a practicing curator, I bring artists’ work to the public’s attention in a way that facilitates understanding and appreciation. I worked at Baltimore’s Eubie Blake National Museum and at the Banneker-Douglass Museum in Annapolis. I had been running a business for a few years when I saw the university’s ad for director of the AACC, and I knew immediately that it would be a perfect fit for me. That was almost 10 years ago, and I still think it’s perfect.

Why do African American students need a cultural center?

The AACC isn’t just for students of color—we have an obligation to serve the majority white student body as well. I’ve met with a number of white students who are committed to social justice, who want to better understand black students’ perceptions and problems. Once they understand, they take action, and that makes them an important constituency. Of course TU is doing a wonderful job of recruiting African Americans—especially from Baltimore—but they remain a minority with special issues. The center’s role is to address our students’ need for inclusion and foster their social, emotional and academic success. We accomplish that in a variety of ways, from special events and programs to just taking time to listen.  

How would you describe the AACC’s mission?

It has always been a home away from home for black students. They know this is a place where they can discuss anything and, when necessary, we’ll find the resources to lend a hand. That’s still true, but lately, as part of the Center for Student Diversity, the AACC is emphasizing a new direction in student-leadership development. The center’s programs support President Caret’s Towson 2010 strategic plan, with its emphasis on on- and off-campus student engagement. We try to take students off campus to meet community leaders and elected officials who are making meaningful changes—I call it “leadership in action.” We’re educating students to live in the present while preparing for a multicultural future in which they’ll need to be able to work with people of all backgrounds. We test their mettle, and it isn’t always fun. But when they graduate, we want to rest assured that we’ve prepared them to the best of their ability.

What have you planned for the rest of this term?

I’m especially excited about an upcoming exhibition, African Americans in Defense of America, commemorating the upcoming 60th anniversary of President Harry Truman’s Executive Order 9981 banning racial segregation in the U.S. Armed Forces. I curated it from materials borrowed from Col. William A. De Shields' collection of black military memorabilia. Our students may not know much about this historic event, but it paved the way for the civil rights movement of the ’50s and ‘60s. The exhibition will be available in the University Union’s Loch Raven Room for three days—November 5-7—before being moved to the AACC in University Union 317. The exhibition is sponsored by the The Black Military History Institute of America, Inc. and the African American Patriots Consortium, Inc.

Has the AACC has changed students’ lives?

It absolutely has changed lives, and I believe it will continue to change lives. When a university commits resources to African American students, they repay it—and the metropolitan region—many times over. They graduate, enter professions, become community leaders and role models, and help revitalize Baltimore.

For more information about TU's African American Cultural Center, go to http://www.towson.edu/aacc/index.asp.

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