Gerald Horne, new director of the Sonja Haynes Stone Black Cultural Center, knows what will top his agenda: fund raising.
As the man destined to lead the move from the existing 900-square-foot facility in a small corner of the Frank Porter Graham Student Union to a planned 50,000 square-foot building off South Road, Horne has a major task before him. But rather than being daunted by the difficulty of raising the remainder of the estimated $7.5 million needed for the new building, Horne says the challenge is part of what attracted him to the job.
"I've always had the desire to become involved in some sort of building of an institution, something that goes beyond teaching and writing," he says. "This offered an opportunity to build an institution--literally to build the center--to help it raise the funds."
The existing center, which opened in 1988, compares favorably with others around the nation, Horne says.
"Right now, we're on par," he says. "But I think when we construct the new center we'll make a gigantic leap forward. So that's something I'm going to see as a top priority. Obviously it's not going to be easy."
So far, more than $1.84 million has been pledged for the new center, ranging from gifts as small as $10 to pledges as large as $1 million from NationsBank. A committee of students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members is working to garner grassroots support.
Horne says he's ready to roll up his sleeves and start soliciting donations, too. First he plans to continue building support on campus, then move further afield.
"One of the things I'd like to do to begin with is to reach out across the campus to make sure that the stakeholders are aware of what we're seeking to do and that they will support what we're seeking to do," he says. "Hopefully, they will share with us some ideas about what we could and should do. Solidifying the base is step one."
Horne already is setting up meetings with campus leaders--faculty, students, staff and administrators--to share ideas.
"Creating a positive atmosphere on campus is one of my first goals," he says. "Then, after we do that--or even simultaneously--I want to try to reach out beyond campus. Obviously, when you talk about raising such a sum, you're going to have to reach off campus."
In soliciting potential donors who are not affiliated with the University, Horne will underscore what the center and its new building will offer the public as well as the University community.
"The kinds of programs that we have here would be something [the citizens] would be interested in seeing," he says, listing film festivals, exhibitions, performances, conferences and the like. "As I said initially, I see the center as not only being a center for Chapel Hill, but as a center for North Carolina and a center for this region. To that extent, I think it's something all would like to share in, and all would like to contribute to."
Horne, whose research focuses on Africa and 20th-century Afro-American history, as well as the film industry, envisions the center taking the lead in hosting conferences and symposia on topical subjects of interest to the black community.
The current strained climate of race relations across the nation, as well as the state's history, make the role of programs such as the Stone Center even more compelling, he says.
"We're going through a very sensitive period in regards to race relations in this country in light of the verdict in the [O.J.] Simpson trial, in light of the Million Man March," Horne says. "There have been many articles published, many questions raised, in regard to where we are as a nation in terms of this issue of race.
"Those of us who know about the history of North Carolina recognize that the issue of race has forever been a very sensitive question in terms of the evolution of the state," he adds. "So the existence of this center ... is very important in that context because it provides a venue for discussion, a venue for debate, a venue for exploration of issues that might otherwise be ignored."
Horne likened the role of the Stone Center to that of Hillel centers on some campuses. Such organizations appropriately examine the history of anti-Semitism, as well as the significant contributions of Jewish Americans, he says.
"I think the black cultural center has also to be viewed in that context. That is to say, not only seen as against a backdrop of exploration of a sensitive question, but also against a backdrop of exploring and examining the major significant contributions that a discrete group has made to U.S. society."
The UNC center, which began as part of the Division of Student Affairs, now is under the administrative umbrella of the Division of Academic Affairs. That move bodes well for its future, Horne says.
"I think it gives the center more faculty support and more credibility with the faculty," he says. "That's important if we're going to accomplish our mission. I think that some of those who were involved in the effort to build the center from the beginning ultimately envisioned that we would be moving in that direction. ... I do think, speaking personally, that it strengthens the center to be perceived as an academic institute."
Horne's hiring also signals a greater academic cast for the center. He comes to Carolina with strong credentials, including master's and doctoral degrees from Columbia University and a law degree from the University of California at Berkeley. He spent the last year in Zimbabwe as a Fulbright Scholar and previously served as chair of the black studies department, acting director for the Center for Black Studies and professor of history at the University of California at Santa Barbara. He also has taught at Sarah Lawrence College, City College of New York and Ramapo College.
Besides directing the Stone Center, Horne also holds joint appointments in history, communications studies and Afro-American studies. He says the faculty's reputation helped entice him to North Carolina.
"Obviously Chapel Hill has a world-class faculty, and that's appealing," he says. "Also, it's a little-known fact that Chapel Hill has a larger number of African-American faculty holding endowed chairs than any other institution in the United States."
Horne says he is especially excited that the new center will be home to the recently created Institute of African-American Research, which will provide extensive research opportunities for students and faculty. In addition, it eventually will house the Upward Bound Program.
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