by Morgan Feddes, '11
 As a Whitworth student, Jeff Tucker, '69, worked to improve the educational experience for African American students. At the time, Tucker was one of only four African American students out of a student population of 1,500. As a result of instances of racism he endured at Whitworth, Tucker became involved in activities that encouraged the then-college to re-examine its recruitment and treatment of minority students. Tucker also founded and chaired the Human Relations Committee, a group similar to today's Black Student Union.
"The main purpose of the committee was to increase the enrollment of black students, increase Whitworth students' knowledge of black people, afford more black students the opportunity for higher education, and make sure there was enough aid and housing available for new [black] students," Tucker says.
Tucker recruited black students to Whitworth as well; he traveled to New York City and Washington, D.C., on recruiting trips. He also organized a bus tour for African American students during his senior year, so that black students from Seattle could visit four colleges, including Whitworth. As a result, around 20 black students enrolled at Whitworth the following year. Tucker's work as a student recruiter and as chair of the Human Relations Committee was done on a voluntary basis. "I wanted to see more black students come to Whitworth," he says.
After graduating from Whitworth, Tucker attended Smith College, in Northampton, Mass., where he earned an MFA in theater. While at Smith, Tucker started the Black Theater Workshop, which featured black students performing plays written by African Americans. The workshop still exists at Smith today, Tucker says.
He spent the next few years working in various acting, teaching and supervising positions at places including Tufts University, in Medford, Mass., and Lincoln University, in Pennsylvania. While continuing his education at the University of California, Berkeley, Tucker became the general manager of the Oakland Ballet, which he helped become financially sound. Tucker concluded his career at American River College, in Sacramento, Calif., working as dean of arts for nearly a decade before devoting his time to teaching. He retired in 2007.
Tucker says he has come to appreciate his years at Whitworth, despite the difficulties he encountered as a student because of his race. "It was not always that way," he says. "But now I'd like to do whatever I can to see it get better." Tucker hopes to make a trip to campus in fall 2009 to meet and talk with current students.
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