Marva Jo Camp: Challenging the Status Quo
In 1978 Marva Jo Camp went to The University of Virginia’s spring fling weekend with her cousin and never left. That weekend was a time Marva will never forget—full of fun, festivities, music, and boys. That first weekend visiting the University, Marva met a student from D.C. and was convinced it was meant to be. She went home and told her parents that she had met the man that she was going to marry. Ultimately, Marva joined him at U. Va. and eventually U. Va. law. The pair ended up dating for ten years. But aside from love, Marva found her passions during her time at the University of Virginia.
From the very beginning of her time at UVA, activism inspired Marva. Being an African American female at a predominantly white institution, Marva noted the often-intense pressure of being confronted with her race. She described the feeling of competition, of needing to prove yourself in the context of being a black student in a white space. During her first week on grounds, Marva was walking with a friend from dorms to Cabell hall when a car rolled up beside them. Though they initially thought it was friends coming to say hi, this assumption was quickly dispelled when two white students rolled down the window, spat on Marva and her friend, and hurled racial slurs at them. To Marva, this hostile act seemed to contradict the idea perpetuated at the University of genteel southern society and Virginia class and was the only time she encountered such overt racism. As traumatizing as that experience was, it didn’t compare to the solidarity Marva and other black students found amongst themselves, particularly at what was known as “The Black Bus Stop”. Marva describes this bus stop, which served as a congregation point for black students, as her “rock”. This sentiment is echoed by many of her peers who attended U. Va. during the 80s.
“Anything that was going to shake it up, we wanted to do.”
Marva was a champion for black students and black culture on grounds. She described herself as, “a little rebel” looking to dismantle the status quo in the name of a better environment for African Americans. Marva served as the chair of minority affairs, was a member of the student government association, resided on the board of the black student union, and founded the Oliver Hill pre-law association. Marva strove to publicize the conversation about Thomas Jefferson’s relationship with Sally Hemmings and used her platform on the minority affairs committee to shake up the culture on grounds. She participated in a sit-in, organized to advocate for the establishment of an African American studies department. Moreover, Marva was a founding member of the Oliver Hill pre-law association, such named for the Virginia native who fought diligently to end segregation in the years prior to and following the Brown v. Board decision, was the first pre-law program of its kind to stick.
“Everybody knew the story, everybody talked quietly, it was just a matter of bringing it to the public.”
Marva also worked at the Luther P. Jackson Center. The center, named in honor of Luther Jackson, a teacher and historian who studied African Americans in Virginia, has been a champion for the needs of black students since its inception. A culmination of the Center’s and students’ efforts, the University established an African American studies department in 1981. Named the Carter G. Woodson Institute of African American studies, the department honors the legacy of famed African American historian, Carter G. Woodson. Woodson, a friend of Luther P. Jackson’s was a native Virginian, historian, and advocate for the professional study of black history. The University founded the center to enhance both the study and research of African American history.
Marva questions whether this devotion to black history, success, and advancement has been paralleled outside of black spaces. While a student at the University, Marva had many incredibly classroom experiences. She remembers vividly being in a classroom with two South African students, one black and one white. One had been a police officer while the other had been a participant in the Soweto riots against the system of apartheid. She recalls that, “the tears, the anger, and the forgiveness” that took place in that classroom was pretty incredible. On the other hand, Marva also had a class wherein her professor took marks off her test for arguing that blacks were not inherently inferior to whites. According to him, research showed that they were. To this day, Marva is skeptical of the commitment to diversity. The black bus stop no longer reigns as a symbol of solidarity the way it once did, much to the dismay of alumni. The black student has declined from the 8% it was when Marva was a student, and she has witnessed first-hand the way the statistics and stories from more recent students deter black students from applying to U. Va.