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Educational Opportunities Program Records, 1968-2013

By Finding aid prepared by Elizabeth Nielsen; updated by Adriane Burk in 2023.

Collection Overview

Title: Educational Opportunities Program Records, 1968-2013

Predominant Dates: 1980-2000

ID: RG 230

Primary Creator: Educational Opportunities Program (Oregon State University)

Extent: 9.5 cubic feet. More info below.

Arrangement: This collection is organized into 8 Series. Series 1: Administration, 1971-2011; Series 2: Admissions and Recruitment, 1977-2002; Series 3: Committees and Workshops, 1985-2000; Series 4: Financial Aid and Scholarships, 1970-2002; Series 5: Publications, 1974-2012; Series 6: Reference and Resources, 1969-2000; Series 7: Scrapbooks and Albums, 1969-1993; and Photographic Materials, 1968-2013.

Languages of Materials: English [eng], Spanish;Castilian [spa]

Abstract

The Educational Opportunities Program (EOP) Records document the materials and activities of the EOP office in its goal to provide support for students who have traditionally been denied access to higher education. This includes the administrative documents and resources of the program, its committees and workshops, as well as the program’s publications. There is also a significant amount of photographic materials documenting program activities.

The born-digital materials in this collection are available for reference use upon patron request.

Scope and Content Notes

The Educational Opportunities Program (EOP) Records include textual documents, photo albums, scrapbooks, and photographic materials documenting the program's activities to further support students who have traditionally been denied access to higher education. The collection highlights the administrative activities of the program, admissions and recruitment, the committees and workshops hosted by the program, the financial aid and scholarships, publications, curated scrapbooks and albums, as well as photographic material of the events and activities of the program.

The administrative records of the EOP include information on the classes offered by the program, correspondence, employment information, Faculty Senate reports, information on funding, staff meeting minutes, program evaluations, and informational documents on program structure. Admissions and recruitment materials include correspondence, resources to aid in accessing admission to the university, and promotional materials such as brochures and displays. There are also records of two multicultural workshops for EOP staff and campus police as well as one staff of color forum. The committees represented are the Students of Color Retention Committee (SOCRRC) and the Board of Visitors of Minority Affairs. The financial aid and scholarship documents include information and applications for various scholarships for students as well as correspondence and financial aid workshops. The program publications include the annual program report and monthly newsletters. The final series of textual documents contains resources produced outside of EOP that were used to inform program staff and students. This includes published articles and statistics, as well as brochures for cultural centers and student opportunities.

The albums in the collection are a curated selection of photographic material showing mainly annual events such as the new student retreats, graduation celebrations, and honor roll celebrations. The scrapbooks contain a combination of annual event prints and newspaper clippings from The Daily Barometer and The Oregonian that highlight the activities of EOP and participating students. The remainder of the photographic materials are mostly prints that include EOP events, facilities, students, and staff from each academic year. There are also digital photographs, which are available for reference use upon patron request. Finally, a small collection of undated and unlabeled negatives that seem to correspond to most of the printed photographs are collected at the end.

Biographical / Historical Notes

In response to the nation-wide social movements of the late 1960s, the Oregon State System of Higher Education (OSSHE) authorized an experimental program which allowed the state's colleges and universities to voluntarily admit students who did not meet standard admissions requirements so long as they made up no more than 3% of the incoming freshman class. Oregon State University’s (OSU) Faculty Senate responded by enacting the Experimental Modification in Admissions Requirement Program (EMAR) in 1968 and set up the Special Services Committee to oversee it. Special Services eventually merged with the Office of Minority Affairs to create the Minority and Special Services Program (MSSP). As well as EMAR, they began providing tutoring and courses on study skills and reading. In 1969, the newly formed Black Student Union organized boycotts, sit-ins, and a walkout march that resulted in the successful advocacy of better support for students of color. This led to the MSSP becoming the currently active Education Opportunities Program (EOP) as well as the eventual establishment of seven cultural resource centers on campus.

Throughout the decades that EOP has been active, the office has managed and worked with other programs with similar goals. Starting in 1988, EOP started the College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP) on campus. CAMP ran through EOP until the late 1990s when a break in program and its funding eventually caused it to become its own separate program. All materials related to the early years of CAMP under EOP have been moved to a separate collection. EOP has also worked with TRiO student services which also has its own collection.

The EOP currently aims to support all students who have traditionally been denied access to higher education. The over 400 students served today include students of color, older than average students, students with disabilities, single parents, low-income students, and students who have been rurally isolated.



Author: Adriane Burk and Natalia Fernández

Administrative Information

Accruals: Additions to the collection are expected.

More Extent Information: 7 cubic foot boxes, 3 oversize boxes (16 x 20 in); 9,915 negatives, 113 contact sheets, 245 slides, 7,930 prints, 8985 digital files, 16.36 GB

Statement on Access: Collection is open for research.

Acquisition Note: Records were transferred from the Educational Opportunities Program in 2006. The records related to CAMP, the College Assistance Migrant Program, were separated to create the College Assistance Migrant Program Records (RG 320).

Related Materials: Two collections directly related to the Educational Opportunities Program are the TRiO Student Support Services Records (RG 277) and the College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP) Records (RG 320). Collections with materials pertaining to the EOP as well as collections that document services for non-traditional and students of color at OSU include the President's Office Records (RG 013), the Minority Education Office Records (RG 229), the Office of Multicultural Affairs Records (RG 225), the Diversity Development Office Records (RG 228), and the International Students of OSU Records (RG 247). In addition, a recording of the “A Raisin in the Sun” performance referenced in the collection is available online. For a variety of collections featuring the histories of communities of color in Oregon, see the Oregon Multicultural Archives.

Preferred Citation: Educational Opportunities Program Records (RG 230), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

Processing Information:

We acknowledge that materials in SCARC collections and the language that describes them may be harmful. We are actively working to address our descriptive practices; for more information please see our SCARC Anti-Racist Actions Statement online.

SCARC describes the contents of its collections using the language and terminology of the collections themselves. Since culturally acceptable terminology shifts over time, some of the terms that appear in these materials are currently outdated or offensive. For instance, the terms “Black” or "African American" have now replaced the once widely used term "Negro" - this term is present in this collection in reference to the name of a scholarship. Nevertheless, these materials are part of African American histories in that they can provide valuable insight into the social construction of race, the perception and treatment of people of color, and the presence of African American communities and cultures.

[Date of acknowledgement: May 2023]

Finding Aid Revision History: A finding aid for the collection was initially created in 2006. The finding aid was updated in 2023 with additional material.

Creators

Educational Opportunities Program (Oregon State University)

People, Places, and Topics

College Assistance Migrant Program (Oregon State University)
Educational Opportunities Program (Oregon State University)
Hispanic American college students--Oregon.
Migrant agricultural laborers--Education--Oregon.
Minorities--Education (Higher)--Oregon--Corvallis.
Minority college students--Oregon--Corvallis.
Oregon Multicultural Archives
Oregon State University--Students.
Student activities--Oregon--Corvallis.
University History

Forms of Material

Photograph albums.
Photographic prints.


Box and Folder Listing