George A. Jackson Black Cultural Center
The George A. Jackson Black Cultural Center (BCC) serves as a foundation for African American cultural identity, education and understanding between diverse communities at Iowa State University. In addition to the variety of programs and resources that the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs offers, we also manage the Black Cultural Center. This cultural center, located at 517 Welch Avenue, a great place to explore and debate ideas, hold study groups, plan and host meetings and events, have a dinner, read a book, write a paper, or just relax.
Virtual Tour
If you've never been to the George A. Jackson Black Cultural Center, check out this virtual tour to see the space before submitting your reservation.
Reserve the BCC
To reserve the BCC, complete the online reservation form. Please review the Building Use Policy prior to submitting your reservation. Reserving the BCC is free for departments and registered student organizations. After receiving your request, we will send you an email confirmation for your reservation with details about the use and any cost. NOTES: Cancellations of BCC reservations must be made at least 3 business days before an event. A cancellation fee of $50 will be assessed for cancellations received less than 3 business days before the event.
Recognized Organizations are limited to no more than two (2) meeting rooms per week with a four (4) hour time limit for routine weekly activities.
Check the BCC's Availability on the Calendar Below.
Dr. George A. Jackson
Dr. George A. Jackson arrived in Ames in 1978 from Oakland University to be the very first director of the newly named Office of Minority Student Affairs (MSA) [now the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs]. He worked significantly increase the number of underrepresented students on campus through intentional recruitment efforts. The structure of having a Multicultural Liaison Officer (MLO) in each college was also originated by Dr. Jackson.
Learn More About Dr. Jackson
Dr. George A. Jackson arrived in Ames in 1978 from Oakland University to be the very first director of the newly named Office of Minority Student Affairs. The office had been in existence since 1971 under the title, Office of Minority Student Programs, but Dr. Jackson’s arrival changed the office forever and thus began his ISU legacy. His passion and advocacy for students was evident in everything he did and every action that he took. He worked closely with Admissions and Financial Aid to significantly increase the number of underrepresented students on campus through intentional recruitment and “in-your-face” retention efforts. In two short years, the Office of Minority Student Affairs had become the center for prospective, new, and current students along with parents.
Dr. Jackson was born and raised in Ocala, Florida. He continued his education at Bethune-Cookman College, a Historically Black College, in Daytona Beach, Florida earning a BA degree in history and political science in 1963. He went on to earn a masters degree in Guidance & Counseling and Sociology from North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, North Carolina, another Historically Black College, in 1968 where the title of his thesis was A Comparative Analysis of Black/White Teenage Unemployment in Two Rural Counties in North Carolina, which was published by the US Department of Labor in 1969. By this time, Dr. Jackson was starting a family. He went on to pursue the Ph.D. at Michigan State and graduated in 1976 with a degree in Higher Education Administration & Sociology. His dissertation title was A Comparative Analysis of Low-Income, Low-Achieving, Pre-College Program Participants and Low-Income, Low-Achieving, Non-Pre-College Program Participants at Oakland University. He also earned a certificate in Adult Education. In addition to his publications such as Helpful Hints for Advising and Counseling Minority Students in Predominately White Colleges and Universities and Is Your Faculty Ready to Advise, Counsel, and Teach Minority Students?, he was always interested in the characteristics of successful minority students who enter predominately white institutions, the history of American Higher Education, and the Historical role of Black faculty in predominantly white institutions.
As you can see, his passion for student success was very evident well before he arrived at Iowa State.
Dr. Jackson was strongly involved in TRIO programs, beginning with Student Support Services and wrote the first successfully-funded proposal. At that time, he was actively involved in the Mid-America Association of Educational Opportunity Program Personnel (MAEOPP) and Council for Opportunity in Education (COE), becoming the president of MAEOPP in 1979. His commitment to helping first—general low-income students continued in 1995 when he wrote the first successful Ronald E. McNair proposal assisting students in getting into graduate school and earning the Ph.D. Both programs are still strongly active on campus.
The structure of having a Multicultural Liaison Officer (MLO) in each college was also originated by Dr. Jackson. He saw that there was a need for a full-time staff person in each college to work directly with minority students and proposed it to the university. Today, most if not all undergraduate students of color know the acronym “MLO” and what it means.
Moving forward in time. After sixteen years working in student affairs, Dr. Jackson moved to the Graduate College in 1994 as Assistant Dean. While he continued to advocate for all students, he shifted to the recruitment and retention of underrepresented graduate students. Right away, he solicited state funding to support academic programs trying to recruit underrepresented graduate students and proposed the creation of an initiative where funds could be requested from the Graduate College. The program became known as the Graduate Minority Assistantship Program (GMAP), which has become a branded name across campus. It was at an annual fall GMAP meeting in 2006 when students approached Dr. Jackson about supporting a forum that brought students together to present their scholarly work. Dr. Jackson supported the idea and charged the students with the planning. This brought about the very first GMAP Research Symposium that took place in 2007!
In 1997, Dr. Jackson proposed to the Dean of the Graduate College a fellowship program named in honor of Dr. George Washington Carver called the George Washington Carver Doctoral Fellowship and brought in the very first recipient, Dr. Antoine Alston, who received the PhD in Agricultural Education and Studies in August of 2000. In 2003, Dr. Jackson was approached by faculty from our Statistics department and faculty from the department of mathematics at the University of Iowa about developing and implementing the student development component of the newly NSF funded project called the Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate or AGEP. This grant was a BIG DEAL for Iowa State. The purpose of AGEP is to recruit, prepare and graduate underrepresented graduate students in STEM fields. The AGEP grant ended in 2008; however, George was behind the push to institutionalized AGEP alongside the GWC fellowship. Both programs have recruited and graduated over 70 students with approximately 40 currently in the pipeline.
Dr. Jackson was also very active in the Ames community. As president of the Ames Chapter of the NAACP, he brought the first NAACP Banquet to Ames that brought together the university and Ames community for a night of inspirational speakers and awards. In addition, as a first inductee into the Iowa African American Hall of Fame in 1996, Dr. Jackson later connected the organization to the university to recognize the outstanding achievements of African Americans across the state. Both events still continue today. Dr. Jackson also founded the annual, and very well attended, “Black Men’s Breakfast” each year that drew attendees from around the state and region with a focus on men’s health, education, and overall well-being. The title was later changed to the “Men of Color Breakfast”. Many have duplicated this event
This is just a glimpse into all of what Dr. Jackson did over his 31 year history. Dr. Jackson retired in June of 2009 after 31 years of service to the university. Sadly, Dr. Jackson departed this life in July of this year. His legacy lives on here at Iowa State and in the Ames community. He is loved and missed by many!