A new endowment to enhance the Black/African American Cultural Center at Colorado State University is being created in honor of Blanche Hughes (M.E.D., ’84; Ph.D., ’95), the former director of the center and the current vice president for Student Affairs.

As with all university endowments, the Dr. Blanche Hughes B/AACC Legacy Endowment will be comprised of invested assets that generate interest income each year to help fund the center’s activities and provide for additional programming and other student needs. The minimum amount needed to endow a fund is $25,000, and fundraising efforts are now underway.

Many alums first met Hughes when she was the director of the center (formally Black Student Services). In that role and throughout her nearly 30-year career at CSU, Hughes began touching the lives of thousands of students in profound and meaningful ways.

The motivation to name an endowed fund for Hughes came from two former students, Kenneth Pugh (B.S., ’89; M.S., ’92) and Monique Wedderburn (B.S., ’92), now married and living in Honolulu, Hawaii. Pugh was a Colorado resident, so attending CSU as a first-generation student was his most affordable option. Though Dawn Person was the director of Black Student Services at the time, Pugh began working as a peer mentor when Hughes became the director in 1985.

Wedderburn’s journey to CSU was considerably farther. She was raised abroad, and after attending high school in Bangkok, Thailand, where her father, Richard Wedderburn (M.S., ’70), worked as an entomologist, she and her younger brother, Jeremy Wedderburn (B.S., 93), returned to the U.S. to attend CSU.

“We were leaving our parents halfway around the world, and Blanche and (her husband) Wayne just put their arms around us and made us part of their family,” Wedderburn said. “She took us in and just watched over us throughout our college years to ensure we were successful.”

Equally important was Hughes’ counseling them as they adjusted to a campus community with few students of color. “Trying to incorporate ourselves into a new culture, we needed that one person with staying power who knew how we felt,” Wedderburn said. “Blanche provided that to students. She was a bridge saying, ‘You can make it. You belong here, and it’s OK if you feel uncomfortable, but just stay.’”

After the idea to name an endowed fund for Hughes began to circulate, others have been quick to voice their support and share the numerous ways she impacted their lives.

Duan Ruff (B.A., ’03), who played football and ran track as a student, served for four years as the assistant director to Bridgette Johnson before succeeding her as director of the B/AACC in June 2021. Ruff has known Hughes since he was 18 years old, and like so many others, she was a support system for him, and he personally knows the impact she has made. “Pugh talking to Blanche really brought the next-level energy to the idea,” Ruff said. “Blanche has been a pillar for the black community in Fort Collins since the 1980s. I can think of no better way to honor her legacy than to expand upon the work that she did and have her name be something that financially lives on in this office to support the work.”

Greg “Roc” Pollard (B.A., ’01), who played football for the Rams from 1995-99, met Hughes during his first year while taking a class she taught that helped athletes cope with the demands of life on a university campus.

“We looked at her as a mother that God sent to support us along our journey,” he said. “The encouragement and support she provided was a hug, and we knew that somebody loved us regardless of how we did on the field. That was Blanche, and she was able to get any of us back on track whenever we weren’t going to class or making poor decisions off the field.”

Pollard, who now owns Valor Reality with offices in Denver and Los Angeles, spent part of his career in education and has experienced the demands of trying to make a positive difference. “I know for Blanche to be that much a part of our lives was a sacrifice for her kids and husband. So, to this day, every time I talk to her daughters, I tell them, ‘Thank you for sharing your mother.’ It was just so important.”