It’s times like these when Carol Ross Barney is reminded of her student activist days on campus in the 1960s.
“In September 1966, my first semester on campus, the U undertook an initiative to register more black students — it was called Project 500 — and I was proud to be in school when people were trying to achieve racial parity and justice,” says Barney (’71), principal designer at Ross Barney Architects. “I had a pretty activist group of friends who wanted to change the conversation — i.e. talk about race, not rush.
“On one Sunday night, a group of us ate at a local pizza parlor. We decided that we would run for the student senate on a platform of change. The idea gathered a lot of support and our ticket won overwhelmingly.
“At the first meeting of the new Student Senate, we abolished ourselves. A pretty radical step but it reflects the energy on campus at that tumultuous time.”
