 A West African drum roll marked the historic opening of the campus Fannie Lou Hamer Black Resource Center, a long fought victory years in the making. Named after the voting rights activists and civil rights leader, its grand opening was standing room only at the Hearst Field Annex D3, featuring a library, presentation area, and common area. The center is meant to boost retention and graduation rates, and attract more African-American students to Berkeley, who according to university data, make up less than three percent of each full enrollment in recent years. The ceremony this week full of jubilation, but also moments of prayer for the native land it sits on, and the ancestors of those who now occupy it. It's a new space on campus for African-American students to have access to resources and foster a connection with the community at large. Vice Provost and Chief Outreach Officer for the U.C. Office of the President was once a student here herself, recounting how she did not always have a place to go. Now that has changed, and she leaves students with this message. Photos of the protests and assemblies over the past years hang on the entrance wall, chronicling the journey many students and members of the Black Student Union and Black Collective took to make the center a reality. The Black Resource Center is just 20 feet away from the African-American Studies Department and Barrow's Hall. At this new center, they hope that students can come together in fellowship. Reporting for CalTV News, I'm Thomas Manglanya.