In February, CU Boulder will advance two resolutions before the University of Colorado Board of Regents that propose the renaming of the Education Building and Temporary Building 1 to honor three individuals who embody inclusive excellence, Chancellor Phil DiStefano announced today.
If approved by the regents, the campus will rename the Education Building to honor听Lucile Berkeley Buchanan, the first African American woman to graduate from CU Boulder, and Temporary Building 1 to honor psychology and neuroscience Professor Emeritus听Albert Ram铆rez听and his late wife, Vera. The couple advocated for campus programs and initiatives to support underrepresented students, faculty and staff.
鈥淎s I have said before鈥攐ur past holds lessons for our future,鈥� DiStefano said. 鈥淩ecognizing the academic and inclusive excellence embodied by these three individuals is critical to our ability to learn from our past, to honor those who have made a difference on our campus and to incorporate the diverse stories of the people who make up our collective history as a university.鈥�
High school graduation photo of Lucile Berkeley Buchanan (from the Buchanan Archives)
Buchanan, who died in 1989 at the age of 105 after a long teaching career, earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree at CU Boulder, but her alma mater barred her from walking across the Macky Auditorium stage to accept her college credentials.听In 2018, Polly McLean, an associate professor of media studies, walked across the stage to accept a diploma in memory of the recognition withheld from Buchanan.
McLean, the first Black woman to earn tenure at CU Boulder and to lead an academic department, spent more than a decade uncovering Buchanan鈥檚 story, which she chronicled听, 鈥淩emembering Lucile: A Virginia Family鈥檚 Rise from Slavery and a Legacy Forged a Mile High.鈥� In 2018, she gave the first Lucile Berkeley Buchanan Lecture, an event听the chancellor called听鈥渓ong overdue.鈥�
In her book, McClean said she was 鈥渕otivated to dig deeper鈥� into Buchanan鈥檚 story and had 鈥渁 desire to understand the university鈥檚 reasoning for dismissing her achievement.鈥�
Buchanan, who was born in Denver in 1884, was the daughter of emancipated Virginia slaves and became the first in her family to graduate from two of Colorado鈥檚 public universities.
In 1905, she graduated with a two-year degree from what is today the University of Northern Colorado. Buchanan left Colorado to teach for a decade in Southern schools under Jim Crow laws before enrolling at the University of Chicago, where she studied German, Greek and the work of British poets Robert Browning and Alfred Tennyson during the summer of 1915.
She returned to Colorado and eventually earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree in German at CU Boulder in 1918. Her mother, two sisters and a niece came to campus to watch her graduate. However, after the university barred her from accepting her degree, Buchanan vowed never to return to campus and, according to McClean鈥檚 book, 鈥淪he kept her promise.鈥�
In 1949, she retired after teaching in the Chicago Public School system and returned to Denver, where she lived until her death in 1989.
Ver鈥媋听Ram铆rez, left, and听Albert Ram铆rez (Photo courtesy of Albert Ram铆rez)
For their part, the Ram铆rezes became well known for informal Sunday gatherings鈥擠omingo en Casa鈥攚hich they hosted in their Boulder home for nine years. The couple welcomed students of color and other underrepresented students, many of them first-generation scholars who were acclimating to college life.
Professor Ram铆rez was one of the first individuals from an underrepresented group to be hired as a tenure-track faculty member in 1971 and was later promoted to associate professor and full professor. He served as associate dean of the Graduate School and associate vice chancellor for academic affairs. He advocated for the creation of the Center for the Studies of Ethnicity and Race in America (CSERA) and the ethnic studies department.
Ram铆rez also conceived of the Equity and Excellence Awards Ceremony and served as its host and principal speaker for many years.
鈥淚t gave me such pleasure to invite the community of color鈥攆aculty, staff and graduating seniors鈥攖o the awards ceremony, as well as the senior CU administrators, so that they could appreciate the excellence of that community,鈥� he said.
Because of the听historical significance听of Temporary Building 1, formerly a medical school and the site of historic Chicano and Chicana rights student activism and protests in the 1970s, the chancellor will propose uniting the building鈥檚 longtime name with the Ram铆rezes鈥� name to honor their legacy as role models and inclusive excellence leaders.
Ram铆rez, who still lives in Boulder, said he was one of a small group of Chicano faculty to witness the events of the spring of 1974 鈥渁nd it forever changed my life.鈥� His wife, he noted, remained an advocate for students of color and other underrepresented students for the rest of her life.
Chancellor DiStefano described Ram铆rez as 鈥渁 leader who did not seek out the limelight, generally preferring to bring about change in a quiet, collaborative manner. His contributions to the university over a long and distinguished career were significant.鈥�
CU Boulder alumni familiar with the Ram铆rez family and Professor Ram铆rez鈥檚 commitment to diversity and inclusion听shared their memories with the Boulder County Latino History Project, telling historians that he had been 鈥渁 major factor in their ability to succeed on campus.鈥�
鈥淓ven today, it is not uncommon for me to run into students of those years, and the first thing they tell me about their CU experience is听Domingo en Casa,鈥� Ram铆rez said.
