When Valeri Nesbitt-Howard started working at the U. of I.’s Bruce D. Nesbitt African American Cultural Center last year, it was like returning to a home she never really left.
Nesbitt-Howard is the daughter of Bruce Nesbitt, a legend on campus for his work on behalf of African-American students. He died in 2000, followed by his wife, Charlotte, in 2014.
The center was housed in two locations after it opened as the Afro-American Cultural Center in 1969, moving last year to its current location on Gregory Drive. And the spirit of her father followed.
“Every morning I come in those doors, I look left at his picture and say, ‘Good morning, daddy, I’m continuing on with your legacy.'”
Growing up just a block away from the center that her father directed until he retired in 1996, Howard was practically raised by the U. of I. campus community.
“I grew up with a lot of these people and they’re still here, changing lives and making a difference in people’s lives,” she said. “I’m so proud that I can be a part of it.”
Nesbitt-Howard is the center’s administrative assistant and is involved in day-to-day office activities as well as the numerous events held at the center.
“Basically, my job is to help keep the center glued together,” she said.
She worked in similar positions in Champaign Unit 4 schools for about 12 years and another two years at Parkland College before applying for an extra help job in the Staff Human Resources department in 2009.
She said the Unit 4 job was most rewarding, as she was able to interact with kids on a regular basis – as well as her own children, who attended school there. She has two adult sons, three teenage daughters and another daughter who is 12.
“I’ve always loved working with children,” she said. “With me being at school, the teachers knew if my kids were causing trouble all they had to say was, ‘Do I need to go get your mother?'”
With Black History Month events winding down, Nesbitt-Howard said it’s been a very busy new year.
“This month has been crazy and amazing at the same time,” she said.
She said it’s been nice to be at the center of it all because it reminds her of her childhood, when her dad took her to work with him, to cultural center events and to campus concerts.
She learned to type from her father’s secretary, Betty Hines. She met Stevie Wonder backstage at an Assembly Hall concert. She remembers then-future NFL players David Williams and Craig Swoope and the host of athletes who stayed at their house when her father was recruiting for the football team.
“My father always opened the door to his home,” she said. “His passion was to be around people and to help people.”
Those memories flood over Howard every time she’s greeted by her father’s foyer photo.
“And now I bring my children here,” she said. “I want my father’s legacy to go on and on.”
It will, thanks to a university plan to build a new cultural center building, set to be constructed in 2018 for about $5 million.
“I’m really excited about the new building,” she said. “It’s going to have everything we need and it will be accessible to everyone. I can’t wait to be a part of it.”
She said she’d like to see a mural from the old building moved to the new center. It’s special, she said, because it is a connection to the start of her father’s legacy, and she and a brother are pictured in it.
As for hobbies outside of work, Nesbitt-Howard said her time is spent meeting her children’s needs or at nighttime events for the center. She said she travels the country to see friends when she can.
She attends Champaign’s Jericho Missionary Baptist Church, and said she loves attending and being a part of the church.
“I’m always with my children, and I do a lot of things at the church when I’m not at the center,” she said. “I’m like a social butterfly; I love people.”
