University of California, Riverside's African Student Program Center (ASP) is one of the longest standing Black Resource Centers in California. Under the stewardship of Director Jamal Myrick, Ed.D, the organization was recently awarded the 2024 Center of the Year by the Association of Black Culture Centers (ABCC). Myrick and his team pose with other Members of the ABCC.
University of California, Riverside's African Student Program Center (ASP) is one of the longest standing Black Resource Centers in California. Under the stewardship of Director Jamal Myrick, Ed.D, the organization was recently awarded the 2024 Center of the Year by the Association of Black Culture Centers (ABCC). Myrick and his team pose with other Members of the ABCC. (Photo: courtesy of Jamal Myrick)

Alyssah Hall

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The Association of Black Culture Centers (ABCC) is a national organization focused on the work of cultural centers throughout the country and creates programming to educate everyone on the culture and history of African Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, and Latinx, according to ABCC. 

This year the University of California, Riverside’s African Student Program Center (ASP) was awarded Center of the Year. ASP Director Jamal Myrick, Ed.D, shared this marks the first time UCR’s ASP  has received the award since the organization was established in 1972. UCR’s ASP is one of the longest standing Black Resource Centers in California.

“It feels great. It’s almost kind of like the idea around the Grammys. You might get recognized by a white organization, but it’s a different thing when you’re recognized by your own because your own understands the work,” Myrick said. “Our community understands the work that we’re doing. They understand how we’re doing it, [and] the challenges that we’re encountering.”

UCR’s student enrollment ethnicity data shows that the majority of the university’s undergraduate students identify as Latinx (41.5%) and Asian (33.8%) while Black students make up about 3.3% of the undergraduate student population.

As for UCR’s graduate student enrollment ethnicity data, Black students are represented even less at 2.3%, with the majority of the school’s graduate students being international (32.4%)  or white (28.4%) identifying.

The 2024 Center of the Year award is given to a cultural center in the ABCC membership that is practicing “transformative work” by supporting Black scholars and the community as a whole, according to Myrick.

UCR’s ASP Award recipients pose for a portrait during the awards ceremony on November 9, 2024. (Photo: courtesy of  Jamal Myrick)

The ABCC’s conference theme during Veterans Day weekend,  “We Dah Seeds,” was influenced by Gullah Geechee culture. The theme represented how Black cultural centers are planting the seeds for the next generation of leaders.

Myrick shared that UCR’s ASP nomination and selection by the ABCC was a complete surprise. “It’s a testament to the work that we’ve been doing for this past year in 2024,” Myrick said.

What made the award more surprising for Myrick and his team is that this is ASP’s first year being part of the ABCC organization. 

“Folks throughout this conference are telling us, ‘Hey, we see the study abroad program that you’re doing; we’re seeing the numbers. We’re seeing the impact.’ Folks are saying, ‘Hey, we wanted to study your logo because it’s unique,’” shared Myrick.

“It’s awesome to be honored for the work that my team is doing because — I shared this at the conference — I’m nothing without the team and the scholars that I serve,” he continued. 

The ASP Team

In addition to Myrick, the ASP team includes Sharee Hughes, Program Coordinator, who makes sure that their program is “top notch” and that their scholars’ voices are heard; Black Student Success Coordinator Victor Moreira, who supports the Black scholars academically; and inaugural Assistant Director Aurea Thomas, who does a “phenomenal” job of creating outreach opportunities for the scholars.

“Our Black scholars as a whole, they make the work that we do easy. Yes, there are some really hard days, but overall, they make our work enjoyable to come and do on a daily basis. They’re the ones that benefit from all the work that we’re doing, and doing it in partnership with them helps us think about what the future of Black leadership can look like on our campus and beyond,” Myrick said.

Assistant Director of ASP, Aurea Thomas (left) and Director of ASP, Dr. Jamal J. Myrick (right) pose for a portrait holding the ABCC Center of the Year Award on November 9, 2024. ( Photo: courtesy of Jamal Myrick) 

“What African student programs do in relationship with our community, both on and off campus, to ensure that not only [do] we get Black scholars to this campus, we keep them on this campus and we graduate them from this campus.”

Myrick said that ASP is a community staple that isn’t only relegated to UCR, but important to the Inland Empire as well and that they will continue to write themselves in the history of the region.

According to Myrick, it is critical for Black culture centers to continue supporting their Black scholars to ensure that they’re ready for the next level and all the challenges that come along with it.

“The work that Black cultural centers do on all these college campuses is unique, and it’s very much needed to create [a space for] our Black scholars to live, breathe and thrive on their respective campus[es],” Myrick said.

Alyssah Hall is a multimedia journalist with a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Cal State University Los Angeles. She joins Black Voice News as a UC Berkeley California Local News 2024-2026 Fellow. Born in SoCal and raised in Lynchburg, Virginia, Alyssah experienced what it was like to feel unrepresented and misunderstood. This upbringing inspired her passion for highlighting and uplifting the Black community and other minorities. Before working with BVN, Alyssah was a reporter for CSULA’s University Times and a freelance writer for the LA Sentinel. You can reach Alyssah for tips, comments or concerns at alyssah@voicemediaventures.com or via Instagram @alyssahhallbvn.