By Manniah Harrison

Nearly 60 years after Black student activists at UC Santa Barbara sparked change against racism and fought for Black development, today’s students re-lived the experience as they watched a new documentary film about the 1968 event known as the North Hall Takeover. The occupation of part of a campus building ultimately led to the creation of the Black Studies Department and other ethnic studies programs at UCSB.

A student film titled ‘The Takeover,’ created by UCSB undergraduates Rosie Bultman and Zoe McCullough ,screened recently at the university’s Multicultural Centre Theatre.

History was revisited as ‘The Takeover’ screened to a receptive audience at the university’s Multicultural Centre theater. This year-long project was produced by Zoe McCullough, a Black Studies major who is minoring in Professional Writing, and Natalia “Rosie” Bultman, a History of Public Policy and Law major who is minoring in Black Studies.

McCullough and Bultman worked alongside several alumni and staff to rediscover life during the rise of the Civil Rights Movement and expose systematic oppression Black students experienced within the university. Through interviews and working with campus radio KCSB’s archival tapes and footage from 1968, the two student producers felt as if they were living through activism in a time before they existed.

As audience members witnessed the 1968 North Hall Takeover on screen, they saw the evolution of Black power and its discourse with White supremacy in a way that is still relevant. The documentary was created not only to showcase Black history but to serve as “a lesson and a blueprint for activists who want to make change,” Bultman said.

Many of the university bodies that sponsored this film, such as the Department of Black Studies, Office of Black Student Development (OBSD), and the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), continue the fight against injustice.

“UCSB had about 9,000 students, and about nine of us total — maybe 10 — were Black,” said a former student featured in the film. The 1968 ‘Takeover’ created an open dialogue that UCSB still maintains today, having created several ethnic and Cultural Resource Centers and welcoming a diverse range of students.

Julianna Swilley, coordinator of Black Student Life for the OBSD left the screening saying she felt encouraged. “It just goes to show the power we hold as individuals and as a collective,” Swilley said.

‘The Takeover’ was the first film its producers have created and its success has exceeded many expectations. The movie has been selected for the 2025 San Diego Black Film Festival and has already won an independent film award. Although the project focuses on Black lives, McCullough believes its message goes further, showing how civic action empowers people and creates change.

“This history should be known by everyone,” she said. Attendees were encouraged to be their own activists and not be complacent when it comes to something they believe in. McCollough and Bultman made their film as an action for change and it left many feeling inspired.

After a recent screening of the student film titled ‘The Takeover,’ which delves into the political 1968 event at UCSB known as the North Hall Takeover, UCSB scholars from several disciplines came forward to discuss the history of theat event and the creation of the Black Studies Department.

Manniah Harrison is a third-year UCSB student, majoring in Anthropology. She covered this event for her Digital Journalism course in the Writing Program.