The month of Feb. is nationally recognized as Black History Month (BHM). Author and historian Carter G. Woodson originally created “Negro History Week” in Feb. 1928; choosing that month to honor the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Fredrick Douglass. After the fiftieth anniversary of Negro History Week, it was later expanded to the month of Feb. and renamed “Black History Month” in 1970. The purpose of BHM is to highlight the positive impacts Black Individuals have made in society—from Fredrick Douglass to Martin Luther King. St. Lawrence University has been celebrating BHM for several years by collaborating with student groups and faculty to create events.
For several years, Associate Dean of Diversity and Inclusion Kimberley Flint-Hamilton has been working with the university to create events to celebrate BHM. “In recent years, we’ve been trying to become a little bit more proactive. Not just working with student groups but actually coming up with our own kinds of programing,” said Flint-Hamilton. One of the events organized by the university in the past, with the help of Flint-Hamilton, is the celebration of the National Day of Racial Healing. “We called out to students to respond to a survey and talk about the impact of race on their lives,” said Flint-Hamilton. A lot of the programs that the university organizes for BHM involve former Black alumni coming back and discussing their work on race and ethnicity. “We did a book talk for a book created by Higher Education Opportunity Program alum Elijah Bell in 2019 and had an engaging conversation about him, as well as race and ethnicity.”
St. Lawrence University celebrated BHM through art in Feb. of 2020 by organizing the Faces of St Lawrence exhibit on the first floor of the student center. They additionally held a reception that highlighted and honored the exhibit and month. There were also events related to honoring staff of color on campus. “We did a fellowship lunch with staff and had one dedicated to faculty and staff of color,” said Flint-Hamilton. St. Lawrence University Communications also created the “Laurentians Inspire Story,” which features inspiring Laurentians throughout the university’s history; but during BHM, the page highlighted former Black alumni. They featured Reverend Jeffery Campbell, Sharee Freeman, Tony Ross, and the Black Student Union house.
This Feb., Flint-Hamilton hopes to organize a few events, even though the presence of the Omicron variant on campus is affecting the progress of her work. “We’re planning on organizing an event called ‘Leading with love, MLK and Black History Month,’ which is going to be a four-day event. We are also celebrating the National Day of Racial Healing this year with a faculty panel and the theme being: place and space,” added Flint-Hamilton.