Ronald Copeland oral history interview

This Scope and Content note was originally generated using GPT-4 (gpt-4o-2024-08-06) on 2024-10-14 and Dartmouth Chat (gpt-4o) on 2024-10-23. It was then reviewed/edited by a human.

Oral history interview with Dr. Ronald Copeland, Class of 1973, for the Dartmouth Black Lives project. Copeland recounts growing up in a large family in Rochester, New York. He relates how his journey to Dartmouth was facilitated by a summer Bridge Program designed to help Black students acclimate to the campus. He describes the social tensions and cultural shifts he witnessed on campus as Black student enrollment increased, and the sense of support he found with other Black students in the Afro-American Society, where he served as President. Copeland discusses his role in establishing the El Hajj Malik El Shabazz Temple as a cultural space and recounts being a model for one of its murals. Copeland reflects on campus activism, noting the Afro-American Society's collaborative efforts with the administration and the impact of Vietnam War protests. He discusses his later career at Kaiser Permanente, focusing on equity, inclusion, and diversity, and relates his advice to current Black students to embrace leadership and change-making opportunities.