Above, the UWO Multicultural Education Center on Oct. 18, undergoing renovations.
Ask alumni to point to a place within the UW Oshkosh campus they feel a special connection to—a hall, a lab, a gym, a classroom—and you’re sure to get an array of answers.
For Dorian Boyland, it was the Multicultural Education Center (MEC).
The Queen Anne and Colonial Revival style home at 751 Algoma Boulevard originally built for a lumberman and banker Thomas Wall in 1898, became the institution’s MEC in the early 1970s—a center refitted and dedicated to support the success of students of color at UWO.
As Boyland describes it, the MEC quickly evolved into something more organic than a university-prescribed programmatic space. It was where his fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, met, held court and celebrated. It was a retreat where friends could relax on its steps off Algoma Boulevard and watch university life flow by. It was the place where Black students gathered to compare notes, support one another as they crafted plans and plotted courses toward graduation and lifelong success.
Dr. Dorian Boyland receives his honorary degree during UWO Spring Commencement in May 2019.
“The MEC was a place that is near and dear to my heart because in the evenings, we’d go there and have study groups, talk about what classes and what professors to take,” Boyland said, reflecting on his student experience. “We used it as a haven, a meeting place to help each other out.”
As it undergoes a historically sensitive revitalization, incorporating interior and exterior updates along with new ramp access to assure Americans with Disability Act (ADA) compliance, Boyland’s college haven is also getting a new name: his own.
In September, the Universities of Wisconsin Board of Regents endorsed UWO’s recommendation that the MEC become “Dr. Boyland University Hall.” It’s an homage to Boyland, a 2007 UWO Distinguished Alumni Award honoree, UWO Athletics Hall of Fame member and 2019 UWO Honorary Degree recipient, who has shaped a remarkable and successful life after his UWO experience.
UWO plans a spring 2025 dedication ceremony to officially recognize Dr. Boyland University Hall.
“Dr. Boyland’s student story, experience and relationship with future-Dr. Boyland University Hall is emblematic of the kind of community, connection and success we want to nurture and promote more of in the revitalized building,” Chancellor Andrew Leavitt said.
“As a Titan student, he built a network, established friendships and grew more resilient through the center. It’s fitting that we now name it in his honor and commit to reviving the space as a crossroads and haven for current and future students and organizations at UWO.”
A gifted athlete while at UWO, Boyland, now based in the Orlando, Florida, area, was selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1976 amateur Major League Baseball draft and enjoyed an MLB career in both the Pirates and San Francisco Giants organizations. He retired from baseball in 1982.
Boyland subsequently flourished in the automotive sales industry and concentrated on his humanitarian and philanthropic passions. The latter have included support for UW Oshkosh; community foundations sustaining Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs); scholarships and assistance for disadvantaged students and families; nonprofits providing basic needs; programs helping close socioeconomic gaps and dismantle barriers preventing young people of color from accessing and succeeding in high school and college; and a host of other crucial causes and charities.
Byron Adams, director of UWO Student Success and Belonging and Interim University Diversity Officer, has led the effort to revitalize Dr. Boyland University Hall as a nucleus of student-group meeting and event activity. It follows the launch of The Hub, a new, central meeting and hangout space in Reeve Memorial Union open to all and home to the offices of Adams’ team.
Adams said the MEC renaming salutes Boyland’s experience in and support for the historic student haven. Dr. Boyland University Hall will, in that spirit, foster new generations student-organization-generated memories and connections at UWO.
Boyland with a fellow student-athlete at UWO in the 1970s.
“The MEC has always been a source of inclusivity, involvement and inspiration,” Adams said. “We have a unique opportunity to memorialize one of our distinguished UWO alumni and reimagine how to build community and a sense of belonging for all by renaming such a historic facility after such an impactful person.”
Boyland said he looks forward to returning to UWO next spring for the dedication of Dr. Boyland University Hall. No question, he will be joined by fellow alumni and lifelong friends whose relationships first established roots in the MEC’s confines.
“We formed a tremendous bond and friendship with everybody who walked through there,” Boyland said. “… It was a place to bring everybody together, honestly.”
“Everybody who walked in that door—everybody was one.”
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