The University of Northern Iowa is remembering a group of former students in an event tonight on the Cedar Falls campus.
This marks the 50th anniversary of a peaceful protest. In 1970, the Iowa Board of Regents didn’t act on a proposal to designate a cultural center at UNI. Students staged a sit-in at the house of then-university President James Maucker, demanding the university vice president’s home be converted into a cultural house.
Of the protesters, six black students and one white student were suspended. They became known as the UNI Seven. Their suspensions sparked more protests that eventually led to the creation of the Ethnic Minorities Cultural and Educational Center.
It’s now located in the Maucker Union and is called the Center for Multicultural Education. Tonight’s event is scheduled for 6:30 in the Maucker Union Ballroom.