to those who have arrived at this archive
Introduction
The LEHIGH STUDENT ACTIVISM ARCHIVE is a mutli-part project developed and maintained through the Institute on Critical Race and Ethnic Studies that seeks to preserve and advance the legacy of student-activism at Lehigh University.
This project includes a timeline of counter stories that tells the history of the university from the perspective of marginalized students, as well as a curated digital collection of photographs, flyers, student newspaper articles, student demands, blogs, and other historical artifacts and documents pertaining to student activism at Lehigh University. Additionally, the ARTCHIVE, is a subcollection within the student activism archive meant to focus on the role of art as a form of student protest at Lehigh University. The materials in the collection date from the 1960s until the contemporary moment and are ongoing. A large portion of these materials are from the following major student movements: The Uhuru Society (1968), The Movement (~2006), FBR (~2014), #LUTakeAKnee (~2017), and Path to Poverty (~2018), as well as documents from the founding of the Institute on Critical Race and Ethnic Studies (~2019).
This archive is a living thing made to continue growing and expanding, and meant to serve as a secure place of student activist memory as well as a resource and for future students and faculty. Hopefully, this project will lay the groundwork for forging trans-generational connections and other future collaborations that continue to combat persistent institutional amnesia of our struggles.
Background
The Lehigh Student Activism Archive is a foundational part of the Institute on Critical Race and Ethnic Studies (ICRES) at Lehigh University and was created and curated by former student activist and co-founder, Kevelis Matthews-Alvarado.
ICRES is an intellectual and creative laboratory engaging in anti-racist, anti-sexist, and anti-colonialist research, learning, teaching, and transformative action..”
The Institute on Critical Race and Ethnic Studies was developed through the collaborative efforts of student and faculty leaders on campus following demonstrations ignited by the university’s systematic abuse of a black female professor and her consequential lawsuit. Ultimately, activism is at the core of the foundation, structure, and mission of the Institute on Critical Race and Ethnic Studies. See About page for more information.
Statement on the Marcon Institute for Racial Justice Research
Last updated and reviewed: Kevelis Matthews-Alvarado, February 2022