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Dedication ceremonies for Lafayette College’s David A. Portlock Black Cultural Center, 101 McCartney St., will be held at 11 a.m., Saturday, Nov. 13, in the Marlo Room of the Farinon College Center.
The newly renovated center will be named for the late David A. Portlock, who served 26 years as Lafayette administrator and was associate dean of academics at the time of his death in 1996. The center was established by Portlock in 1970. It features a seminar room, library, kitchen, and guest suite and hosts a variety of activities, including classes, art exhibits, guest lectures, poetry readings, community events, and receptions.
Dedication speakers will include Landon Adams, a sophomore from Columbus, Ohio; Frederick D. Strickland, a 1969 Lafayette graduate who is now a patent attorney with E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Wilmington, Del.; Rexford A. Ahene, associate professor of economics and business at Lafayette and coordinator of the Africana Studies program; Robert Bedford, Lafayette’s newly appointed assistant dean of students and director of intercultural development; and President Arthur J. Rothkopf ’55.
As a student, Strickland played a key role in helping Portlock establish the Black Cultural Center and the Association of Black Collegians (ABC), a student organization that sponsors cultural programs, philanthropic projects, and social events. Adams is the current president of ABC.
The center will be open for touring before the dedication beginning at 10 a.m. Currently on display is a special exhibit of art works by Curlee Raven Holton, associate professor of art at Lafayette and director of the College’s Experimental Printmaking Institute.