In May 2025, Indiana State University quietly removed "African American" from the name of the Charles E. Brown African American Cultural Center — and changed its mission — while most students were on summer break. No announcement. No community input. No warning.

That center didn't just appear. It was built. In 1972, Black students at ISU organized, protested, and fought for a place of their own on a predominantly white campus. What started in a tiny building next to a railroad track — nicknamed "the shack by the track" — grew into something extraordinary. For generations, it was a home for Black students, a hub for education and culture, and a source of pride for the entire university community.

"That culture center was a gem at Indiana State University, a gem in Terre Haute, a gem in Indiana," said historian Crystal Reynolds, who has worked to document the center's history.

Now students are watching that legacy disappear. Senior Jaida Dagen, who launched the "Restore the Legacy" campaign, put it plainly: "My fear is that I'm seeing history erased before my eyes."

The university made these changes under pressure from the Trump administration and Indiana Governor Mike Braun, who threatened to pull funding from schools that maintained diversity, equity and inclusion programs. But erasing a name doesn't erase history — it just makes it harder to find.

Malia Thomas, former president of the Black Student Union at ISU, said the way the university handled this was wrong. "When you do it without communication and without concern for the students that it serves, it's extremely disrespectful. It's hurtful, and it makes us feel less than."

We are asking ISU President Mike Godard and the ISU Board of Trustees to restore "African American" to the center's official name and return its founding mission: serving Black students and educating the campus community about the African American experience.

This isn't a political ask. It's a matter of respect — for the students who built something from nothing, for the generations who called it home, and for the ones still there today who deserve to know that history didn't just quietly disappear on their watch.

Sign this petition to tell Indiana State University: restore the name. Honor the legacy.