An old house on Washtenaw Avenue was honored Friday night in celebration of its 25th year as a cultural center in the University community.
More than 100 students, faculty, staff and community members filled an upstairs room in the William Monroe Trotter House, named after an early 20th-century civil rights advocate.
Vice-provost for minority affairs emeritus and emeritus education Prof. Charles Moody said the original Trotter House resulted from the Black Action Movement that swept across campus in the early 1970s.
"Some people paid some heavy dues for us to be here," Moody said.
The first Trotter House stood on the corner of South University and East University avenues in 1971 as a black student cultural center. That house burned down because of a boiler heater problem.
After the fire, Alex Hawkins, then the director of the house, said he led the committee in search of the present location.
"There was a band of hippies living here with a dozen dogs," Hawkins said. "The place was a mess."
Since its purchase, Trotter House has come a long way, Hawkins said. It now serves as the meeting ground for 37 organizations as well as a host to many campus events.
Among those giving appreciation to the house Friday was the University Gospel Chorale, which sang two songs in appreciation of the home.
The keynote speaker, state Sen. Alma Wheeler Smith (D-Salem Twp.), reflected on the struggles of the BAM that took place while her father was a professor at the University.
"My father would come home from work and say 'some of these kids are putting their college careers on the line and because of the attitudes of some of the administration, when this is all over (the students are) gone,'" Smith said.
In 1981, Trotter House became a multicultural center to serve all students of color.
Student group members who use the building said they came to pay tribute to the house because it gives them a place on campus that is community-centered.
La Voz Mexicana President Roberto Rodriguez, an LSA senior, said his early memories of the Trotter House are "ones which provoke images of gathering and the sharing of our community."
Black Student Union member Delano White said Trotter House holds special importance for him.
"I've had fun here. I've had meetings here. I've had arguments here. I've grown here," said White, an Engineering junior.
Later in the program, architecture Prof. James Chaffers and Heather Watson, an architecture graduate student, announced plans to renovate Trotter House. The renovations include a "high tech" conference room and an art gallery.
Glenn Eden, an employee in the Office of Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs, said the event was symbolic of Trotter House's achievements.
"It unifies what it means to have a culture and not just a way of life - academically, socially and politically," he said.
Program coordinators also honored retired Regent Nellie Varner (D-Detroit) and presented a plaque honoring Smith's father.
Smith ended her address to the University community with words her father once said: "Be good to each other and have the courage to right the wrongs."