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The Board of Regents granted approval for the establishment of the Center for Africana Studies on February 2, 2001. Commencing its operations in 2002, the Africana Center welcomed students, faculty, staff, and the broader community of Central.
Going back to its roots, in 1992, a group of pioneering educators, including Professors Gloria Emeagwali, Walton Brown-Foster, Haines Brown, and Sherinatu Fafunwa-Ndibe, laid the foundation for what would later become the African Studies Program at Central. Professor Gloria Emeagwali took the helm as the program's founding coordinator.
In 1993, Professor Gloria Emeagwali spearheaded the launch of the Africa Update Newsletter, a publication she continues to edit to this day in addition to her teaching obligations.
The tradition of Annual African Conferences was started in 1994. A banquet and lecture series was also established in the 1990s.
