The previously independent Black Cultural Center may become a part of Iowa State if it reopens.

Black faculty members and student leaders discussed a plan at a forum Thursday to combine the university with the center so that it can afford operating costs. The center, located at 517 Welch Ave., was closed in 2003 because of $40,000 of structural damage.

It was established in 1970 to give black students an identifiable presence on campus and to provide education to the ISU and Ames communities.

“I think it’s important to see the return and resurgence of the Black Cultural Center,” said Leonard Perry, director of multicultural student affairs and assistant dean of students. “It serves the entire community.”

Thomas Hill, vice president for student affairs, said Iowa State could not legitimately fund the center because it is not affiliated with the university. The center requires $40,000 in repairs to fix water damage caused by an inoperative sewer line, according to a recent assessment. Hill said because the center is a very old building, it will also require ongoing maintenance that will not be affordable unless it receives funding from Iowa State.

“It has to survive,” he said. “That center is critical because it chronicles the history of African American students at Iowa State.”

Hill said he considered the Black Cultural Center to be as important as Morrill Hall, which the university is keeping open for historic significance.

George Jackson, assistant dean of the Graduate College, said along with Hill, he has raised $16,000 for the center.

He said a commitment to the center from the university would require a commitment from black students to use the center.

Venise McCown, secretary for the Black Student Alliance, said the lack of student interest is caused by a lack of information about the center.

“People don’t get the word around,” she said. “We’re working on it.”

Many of the students present made donations during the forum. Black Student Alliance treasurer and Daily columnist Karla Hardy said a Black Cultural Center fund would be created Friday to receive donations.

Vern Hawkins, ISU alumnus and one of the founders of the center, said the center’s founders did not want it to answer to Iowa State at the time. He said when he came to Iowa State in 1967, there were 67 black students on campus, 61 of whom were male athletes. When the center was established, coaches would not allow black athletes to enter the building.

Hill said times have changed.

“There’s some concern that if the university gets it, they’re not going to fund it, they’ll bulldoze it,” he said. “That’s not going to happen.”

Hill said that if the center remains closed, it will fall down from a lack of repairs. He said former ISU president Martin Jischke arranged for the center to receive $100,000 in 1997.

Iowa State was not allowed to take an administrative role in the running of the center at the time, he said, and the center fell into disrepair because it did not have a cash flow.

“There was this rift between the administration and students of color at that time,” he said.