Oregon State University has announced that the new residence hall on its Corvallis campus will be named after its first African American male graduate. William Tebeau Hall will open this fall with space for 324 students. The 76,400-square-foot building cost $28 million to build. It is the 15th residence hall on campus.
William Tebeau enrolled at what was then Oregon State College in 1943. He was not permitted to live on campus. He took a job tending the furnace at a fraternity house in return for a small room in the basement. He graduated from Oregon State in 1948 with a degree in chemical engineering. He went to a 36-year career at what is now the Oregon Department of Transportation. He also was an adjunct instructor at Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Oregon.
William Tebeau died in 2013 at the age of 87.
I went onlilne to read his obituary what a life and a legacy to leave for his family and others.
All of these kinds of insults against native Afro Americans, and immigrant “blacks” should be catalogued. There is so little anger on the part of Afro North Americans as to be amazing. It would be interesting to know if this man was ever employed in his field, or taught at university or received any patents.