his summer, shortly after the death of Professor Emeritus Norman Hodges, the first tenured Black professor in History and Africana Studies, the Vassar community lost another influential Africana Studies leader—Professor Emeritus Milfred Fierce. Largely considered the “godfather” of Africana Studies (previously Black Studies), Fierce was the first director of Vassar’s Urban Center for Black Studies, established in 1969. His advocacy was central to Vassar creating a major in Black Studies at Vassar long before peer schools did so. Critical to Professor Fierce’s vision for education in Black Studies was its location in the heart of the Black community in the City of Poughkeepsie. Under Professor Fierce’s direction, the Black Studies program at Vassar became a model for subsequent programs across the country. Fierce was supportive of Vassar students’ role in the Civil Rights and the National Black Student movements and was a guiding force in the transformative Main Building takeover in 1969, which led to Black Studies becoming a major and the integration of Black Studies into the Vassar curriculum.