The Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity (OMA&D) has its roots in student-led activism and society’s calls for equity and change. On May 20, 1968, members of the Black Student Union and their supporters occupied the office of UW President Charles E. Odegaard. The activists demanded an increase in minority student enrollment, an increase in minority faculty and administrators and the establishment of a program in Black studies. UW administration responded by appointing Dr. Charles Evans special assistant to the president who established the Special Education Program, the forerunner of what became the Office of Minority Affairs in 1970. This new office was given dedicated funds, a clear mandate and a visionary leader, Dr. Samuel E. Kelly who assumed the role of vice president, also in 1970. The first African American senior administrator at the UW, Dr. Kelly helped open doors for hundreds of underrepresented minority, educationally and economically disadvantaged students. Many of the innovative programs he and his staff developed continue to this day. OMA&D celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2018.