{"id":2675,"date":"2021-09-30T13:54:27","date_gmt":"2021-09-30T13:54:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/?p=2675"},"modified":"2021-09-30T13:55:02","modified_gmt":"2021-09-30T13:55:02","slug":"honoring-robert-perry-a-trailblazer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/2021\/09\/30\/honoring-robert-perry-a-trailblazer\/","title":{"rendered":"Honoring Robert Perry: A Trailblazer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"By Fletcher Word
\nSojourner\u2019s Truth Editor<\/p>\n

Family, friends, former colleagues of Robert L. Perry, PhD, joined the staff, faculty and administration of Bowling Green State University on Thursday, June 23, to unveil the Robert L. Perry Veranda which will be located at the campus\u2019s Shatzel Hall.<\/p>\n

During a ceremony in which BGSU\u2019s Chief Diversity and Belonging Officer Jennifer McCary served as mistress of ceremonies, several current university officials praised Perry for his contributions to the institution especially in founding and leading the Ethnic Studies program in 1970.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe work of belonging and diversity can be traced back more than 50 years ago to Dr. Perry,\u201d said University President Rodney Rogers during his remarks as he called Perry \u201ca trailblazer in the discipline and in our community. \u201c<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cTo know where we are heading as a university, we have to recognize and understand where we have been. Dr. Perry\u2019s work is one of those mileposts of progress in our history.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perry\u2019s association with BGSU runs deep. He is a two-time alumnus of BGSU, earning a bachelor\u2019s degree in 1959 and a masters in 1965.<\/p>\n

Then came the seismic changes of 1970.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 1970, a committee was approved,\u201d said Provost and Sr. Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs Angela Nelson, PhD, as she traced the development and the timeline of the Ethnic Studies program that Perry founded and led.<\/p>\n

\"\"The department, she noted, made \u201cBGSU one of the first in the Midwest\u201d to develop such a course of studies.<\/p>\n

By 1979, Ethnic Studies was granted departmental status which \u201cprovided a strong academic background for advancing the discipline,\u201d said Nelson, \u201cwhich helped to make Bowling Green a better place to learn.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1992, under Perry\u2019s guidance, BGSU established a cultural diversity\u00a0course requirement for all students. It was the first such required course in the nation.<\/p>\n

Perry, now a distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Ethnic Studies, retired in 1997 after chairing the department for nearly two decades.<\/p>\n

Present at the ceremony, along with Perry\u2019s two sons, daughter and two grandchildren, was John Scott, PhD, former professor, who chaired the committee which selected Perry to lead the program.<\/p>\n

Perry took the podium to express his thanks not only for the honor that was bestowed upon him but also for the university\u2019s enduring \u201ccommitment to ensuring the continuity of ethnic studies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Acknowledging the \u201congoing attacks\u201d on the struggle for equity and inclusion in the country today, Perry said: \u201cit is very inspiring to witness some zeal for inclusiveness among the statements today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, he said, \u201cracism is alive and well today, the attacks on local school boards nationwide over critical race theory demonstrate how important ethnic studies is today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perry also expressed his thanks for those who worked with him to start the program at BGSU.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did it together,\u201d he recalled. \u201cWe began by listening to the students\u2019 experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Highly publicized events such as the Orangeburg (three protesters shot and killed in 1968 on the South Carolina State University campus) and the Kent State (four protesters shot and killed) massacres paved the way for the BGSU program.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat era birthed ethnic studies at Bowling Green State University,\u201d said Perry. \u201cAnd we were fortunate to have faculty dedicated to their craft.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perry also reminisced about the contribution of author James Baldwin to the program. Baldwin, the first hire, would return four times to the campus, said Perry, and wrote much of his last novel, Just Above My Head,<\/em> at the university.<\/p>\n

\u201cBowling Green is a very special place for me and my family,\u201d said Perry, closing his acceptance remarks. \u201cI look forward to help create even more growth and to reach higher heights.\u201d<\/p>\n