Student Association for Black Unity (SABU)

The Student Association for Black Unity (SABU) was founded in the winter of 1971 and has continued to evolve with campus culture over the last 50 years. This research guide contains materials that focus on the inception of S.A.B.U. (1971-1985) and its connection with the present campus community. The collaboration with living founders of S.A.B.U., as well as affiliated alumni and students, is critical to expand on and provide context for existing archival documents during this time period. This research is part of a broader effort to document histories of the Black experience at W&L more holistically through community engagement and it remains ongoing.

Themes discussed in this portal are:

  • SABU's mission, members, and voices (oral histories, group photographs, scrapbook)
  • SABU activities (Black Culture/Emphasis/Awareness Weeks/Months, Invited Speakers/Performers, Black Ball)
  • University Hierarchy Struggles (SAB/EC, Administration, Honor trials)
  • Public dialogues connected to SABU (article groupings with multiple voices on issues)
  • Race relations at W&L (feature stories, articles on disagreements and protests, community relations with SABU)

Featured Collections

Student Newspaper Coverage (SABU)

Virginia Union University Choir during Black Culture Week concert

Alumni Magazine (SABU)

SABU students

Calyx Representation (SABU)

Timeline

Themes

Black student speaks into radio microphone.

About SABU - In Their Own Words

Black students talk in dorm room

SABU and Racial Tension at W&L

Dick Gregory speaker announcement in newspaper

SABU Sponsored Events and Activism

Dancers at Black Ball

Focus on Black Ball

Newspaper clipping

SABU and the Executive Committee

New minority affairs dean in campus newspaper

SABU and University Administration

Newspaper clipping on SABU meeting

SABU in Campus Dialogue

Related Exhibits

  • Black Awareness Week poster at Rollins College

    Pathways to Diversity
    Four institutions (Centre, Furman, Rollins, and W&L) account for their history on their own pathways to diversity.

  • The Black Experience @ W&L
    A digital exhibit created to help remember about the black experience at Washington and Lee University and, more largely, in United States history through African-American poetry and archival materials.

  • The Black General
    The Black General is a digital exhibit featured archival material and oral histories on the period of desegregation at W&L, the history of black student organizations, and other relevant material on the Black experience at W&L sourced from alumni, faculty, staff and Special Collections.
  • SABU

    Integration at W&L
    Integration at W&L is dedicated to the presentation and aggregation of archival material that tells the story of Washington and Lee’s desegregation and integration from its foundation through the present.

  • DCI 201: Integration
    An institutional history digital exhibit created during Winter 2020 about integration at Washington and Lee University, including the creation of Student Association for Black Unity (SABU).
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