Iowa State University’s Black Cultural Center will be renamed in memory of Dr. George Jackson, former ISU administrator, who passed away in 2016.

The naming ceremony of the Dr. George A. Jackson Black Cultural Center will be at the building’s location, 517 Welch Avenue, on Saturday, May 20 from 10:00 a.m. to noon. A program will take place at 10:30 and the facility will be open to the public.

“There was a number of conversations about a way to appropriately honor his legacy on campus,” Kenyatta Shamburger, director of Multicultural Student Affairs, said. “We know the family is very excited.”

Jackson served as director of the Office of Minority Student Affairs, assistant vice president for Student Affairs and assistant dean of the Graduate College. His legacy lives on at ISU through decades-long programs and initiatives.

“He was very active in the Ames community,” Shamburger said. “He was very active on campus, he was active in the NAACP in Ames … He did a lot of work on recruitment and retention for first generational college students, he was instrumental in developing the college multicultural liaisons program.”

The home on Welch was purchased in 1970 by a group of faculty and students with the hopes of creating a Black Cultural Center. Its purpose was to create a place for the Ames and Iowa State community to interact and gain a better understanding of black culture and to act as a home away from home for African American students attending Iowa State University.

It was then rededicated in April 1997 after the organization entered in to an agreement with the University to be recognized as an university-affiliated organization, the BCC has served as “a foundation for African American cultural identity, education and understanding between diverse communities at Iowa State University” and a vital space for students and organizations at Iowa State, according to a release.

The BCC faced permanent closure due to damage from a water main rupture in 2003, but was saved through collaboration and fundraising by community organizations. It was reopened in 2007 and has since been under the direction of the office of Multicultural Student Affairs.

The building is available for reservation through the Multicultural Student Affairs office. Their website says the Black Cultural Center is “a great place to explore and debate ideas, hold study groups, plan and host meetings and events, have a dinner, read a book, write a paper, or just relax.”