Alex Tucker can still remember when he first saw Thurgood Marshall.
Marshall, the first African American to be appointed to the Supreme Court, had been presiding at a moot court at the University of Southern California, Tucker’s alma mater.
“He was living history,” Tucker said of the experience.
Tucker, the special projects and community relations coordinator for the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies, helps procure speakers for the center’s annual tribute to Marshall, the Thurgood Marshall Lecture and Dinner.
Illustrious black leaders have spoken at the lecture, which is also a fundraiser. Last year, it was the Rev. James Lawson. This year, it will be Elaine Brown, former chairwoman of the Black Panthers.
Professors Darnell Hunt and Brenda Stevenson head the Bunche Center, which includes three other ethnic studies groups: the Chicano Studies Research Center, the Asian-American Studies Center and the American Indian Studies Center.
The Bunche Center serves as a leading resource for research, a bridge between ethnic groups and a link to other organizations on campus and in Los Angeles.
In response to controversy over the acceptance rate of black students to the University of California, the center began the Ford-funded College Access Project for African-Americans in 2002.
The project yielded research about the declining admission rates for black students at each of the UC campuses and included suggestions on how to remedy them.
Tucker said research used in determining changes to admission policies for schools across the nation, including UCLA, comes from the center.
“We offer and (are) a resource for those who need this kind of research,” he said.
The Bunche Center partnered with the California African American Museum to produce an exhibit called “The African Presence in Mexico,” which highlights and examines black contributions to Latino culture.
Tucker said he hopes that optimistic attention will be given to the relationship between blacks and Latinos.
“There’s so much negativity (about the relationship) in the media,” Tucker said. “There are so many more positive things that need to be focused on.”
Before California’s presidential primary on Feb. 5, the Bunche Center hosted “Coloring the Vote,” a conference on the disenfranchisement of minority groups in previous elections. The event drew State Assemblyman Mike Eng and State Sen. Mark Ridley Thomas to speak.
“One of the key things I believe in doing is to look at programs that are diverse and interactive with other departments and centers on campus,” Tucker said.
“Coloring the Vote” was organized by several UCLA groups, including UCLA Graduate Division, the Center for Community Partnerships, and the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity and Politics.
But Tucker added that the accomplishments of the Bunche Center should not be emphasized only during February.
“Every month is Black History Month,” he said.