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Felix Clary
ICT + Tulsa World
TULSA, Okla. — While the sheriff’s sale of Bacone College was canceled Thursday morning, the NAACP is conducting a plan to help end the sale permanently.
The Oklahoma NAACP has protested against the sale of Bacone, arguing that it is not only a legal matter, but a matter of racial justice.
NAACP is a civil rights organization that advocates for people of color in Oklahoma. Their president, Bernard Allen-Bey, has stated the lack of public engagement over saving Bacone is concerning.
Allen-Bey said the NAACP plans to assemble a “think-tank” that would focus on a permanent solution to the financial crisis many Oklahoma minority-serving institutions find themselves in.
“How did this happen? Why is it that a college of that history is in danger of being lost?” Allen-Bey said in a Dec. 14 ICT + Tulsa World interview.
“We just need to find out who to talk to help create a permanent solution, so these types of institutions are not at risk, and to ensure they are providing a proper environment for Indigenous students and faculty.”
(Previous: Indigenous-serving college fighting for survival)
Bacone is not only a historical site, being the first public university in Oklahoma, but it is an Indigenous-serving institution.
The NAACP emphasized that the school is an iconic and world-class art institution that supports Indigenous artists and professors, saying it is the cornerstone of the Oklahoma Indian Art Movement.
“It is important they remain intact and would be a travesty to have it lost,” Allen-Bey said. “The real issue for us has to do with the funding of education for Indigenous children and teaching of Indigenous knowledge.”
Bacone College Interim President Dr. Nicky Michael said in a Dec. 14 ICT + Tulsa World interview that she does not know why the sale was delayed, but that it is “good news.”
“We are relieved about it,” she said.
The auction has yet to be rescheduled, according to the Muskogee Sheriff’s Office.
This is the second auction of Bacone to be canceled this year. The first being in April.
The college is being sued by the HVAC company MHEC for uncompensated air conditioning work.
Despite the school not having the funds to cover it, former Bacone President Ferlin Clark hired MHEC to do over $1 million worth of HVAC work on school buildings.
The president of MHEC, Chris Oberle, reportedly said he planned to place a bid on the school.
In a ICT + Tulsa World interview on Dec. 6, Michael said that “if this is true, we find that very disturbing.”
Michael called for help in donations to try to stop the auction.
Allen-Bey calls for action on the part of Oklahoma to use Diversity, Equity and Inclusion budgets to assist minority institutions like Bacone.
Michael expressed that she is happy about Allen-Bey’s support.
This story is co-published by the Tulsa World and ICT, a news partnership that covers Indigenous communities in the Oklahoma area.
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