Nico Rivera
Features Editor
The Center for Belonging, Inclusivity and Dialogue (CBID) prepared a poster display in their office on the second floor of the Lowry Student Center which displays 16 different faculty, staff and alumni who made significant impacts during and after their time at Wooster.
Jemima Kaisha ’29, a freshman intern in the CBID office, spoke about the display. “I think it’s really cool for college students, especially Black college students, to see what’s come before them and to see the amazing work that they’ve been able to do. Everybody’s profiles here are really incredible and I think it’s nice to also have, for example, Clarence Allen. He’s the reason that the Allen Scholarship is here and to have that mixed with Somarr Elliott, who was here last year. I think it’s cool to have that range to show that we’re not done. There’s still so much that we can do and there’s so much that we have done.”
Clarence Beecher Allen’s display explains that he was the then-University of Wooster’s first African-American graduate in the year of 1892. After graduating from the College, he went on to serve as President of Interdenominational Ministerial Association of Pittsburgh, along with the Afro-American Council. He also pastored one of the largest all-Black Presbyterian Churches in the United States. He was directly responsible for the creation of the Allen Scholarship, which according to his display was designed to “attract the best and brightest to Wooster in hopes that these students would continue his legacy of leadership, civic engagement and social advocacy.” Reverend Allen’s display explains that his son, William Scovel Allen, went on to earn his Bachelor of Science degree at the College in 1928.
Soon after Reverend Allen’s time at Wooster, Charles Follis enrolled at the then-University of Wooster from 1901 to 1902. His display explains that he played as a catcher for the baseball team during two seasons. Once he left Wooster, “Follis became the first Black athlete to play on an integrated professional football team when he joined the Shelby Blues of the Ohio League.” His legacy is felt to this day in the local Wooster community, with Wooster High School’s football field having his namesake.
Moving to the present recent alumni, Somarr Elliott ’25 was highlighted with a poster display. Somarr was a neuroscience major who came to Wooster from Atlanta as a Posse Scholar, during his senior Independent Study he conducted a study that explored how altering short-term sleep quality affects people’s brains. In addition to his academic success, Elliott received the Ohio Campus Compact’s Charles J. Ping Student Service Award in recognition of his efforts to increase volunteership amongst the campus community. During his time on campus Elliott was heavily involved in the Wooster Volunteer Network acting as its president during the 23-24 and 24-25 academic years. According to his display, the award “recognizes and honors undergraduate students for their outstanding leadership and contributions to community or service-learning on their campus and within their community.” During his first year at Wooster, he began volunteering at the Wayne County severe weather shelter. Somarr continued to service the community throughout his time at Wooster, working in the Open Door counseling center and in the Wooster Volunteer Network. His display explains that “He organized events to benefit the county’s homeless population, including a blanket making night for volunteers to make blankets from fleece fabrics donated to campus partners.”
Among the women highlighted across the displays is Makiba J. Foster, The Librarian of the College. Prior to her time at Wooster, she led the African American Research Library and Cultural Center in Broward County, Florida. At the same time, she worked with “a network of public libraries and libraries at colleges and universities on a project called ‘Archiving the Black Web.’” According to her display, “Foster received a $150,000 National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to advance the project, which has a goal of documenting the digital presence of Black culture and content through the practice of web archiving. Library Journal praised the project when it listed Foster as one of its 2021 Movers & Shakers – Digital Developers.” She received national recognition for this display and for her project, “Documenting Ferguson,” which is a digital collection of media contributed by many community members after the killing of Michael Brown in 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri. In her current position as Librarian of the College, she is responsible for a library system which is in the Princeton Review’s Top 20 “Best College Libraries,” holding approximately 700,000 book volumes across Gault Library, Andrews Library and Timken Science Library.
