Black Alumni Council, in honor of Fanny Ruth Patterson

Black Alumni Council, in honor of Fanny Ruth Patterson

The Northern Illinois University Black Alumni Council is located in Chicago and has been in existence since 1976. Currently, its efforts are to continue to support African American students at NIU and serve as a resource to advance NIU African American alumni.

The Fanny Ruth Patterson Scholarship is named after the first black student to graduate from NIU. Fanny Ruth Patterson, who earned a bachelor’s degree in education in 1915, was known as a brave innovator at Northern.