UToledo Dedicates Center for Racial Equity and Black Student Excellence Resource Room

June 15, 2021 | Diversity, News, UToday, Alumni, Student Affairs
By Kait Tippey



The Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion dedicated the Dr. Donald Baker Resource Room in the Center for Racial Equity and Black Student Excellence during a ceremony Thursday with senior leaders, deans and members of the Baker family.

The Dr. Donald Baker Resource Room will provide underrepresented minority students access to programming, network opportunities with peers between classes and meeting space for their organizations.

“Dr. Baker loved The University of Toledo,” said Dr. Willie McKether, vice president for diversity and inclusion. “As a devout family man, he was a great athlete as well as an outstanding student, earning his medical degree from the University in 1976. It is truly a privilege to name and dedicate the Resource Room in his honor.”

Baker, who played offense and defense for the Toledo Rockets from 1962 to 1964, was an orthopaedic surgeon who also served as team doctor for Scott and Macomber high schools and the Toledo Storm hockey team.

The Resource Room named in his honor will provide underrepresented minority students access to programming, network opportunities with peers between classes and meeting space for their organizations.

The center will fully open for UToledo students in fall 2021 with the launch of the Black and Latino Student Excellence Transition Program.

“I cannot say how excited I am about our new center,” said McKether. “Like other universities throughout the country, the University recognized the need for a place to focus on racial inequity as well as the academic and belonging needs of our students.”

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