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Tech will celebrate Black History Month with multiple events
Cookeville, Tennessee - Tennessee Tech University will celebrate Black History Month
2023 with events across campus and in the community designed to promote productive
conversations about the significance of diversity and to celebrate the contributions
of African Americans to the university and society.
“We've been looking at increasing the number of events that we do on campus, and also
including some of the community events,” Charria Campbell, director of multicultural
affairs, said. “We are building more of a campus and community collaboration.”
On Thursday, Feb. 2 Jonathan Blanchard and Band "History to Hip Hop" Session will
be featured in the Derryberry Auditorium at 11 a.m. “The Block Party” will be a concert
in the Multipurpose room at 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 7 Anthony Hinton, with the Equal Justice Initiative, will be the guest
speaker in Derryberry Auditorium at 6 p.m. Hinton will share his story of being wrongly
convicted and exonerated after 30 years through the efforts of the EJI.
On Thursday, Feb. 9 Jeff Hobbs, along with Tech history professor Troy Smith, will
make a presentation on "Cherokee Freedmen,” in the Tech Pride Room at 6 p.m.
“We are trying to pull in students who typically may not know, with some of these
cultural heritage events, that they exist or have participated in,” Campbell said.
“And to give them that informal education or out of the classroom experience and opportunities
to learn about some different things.”
Sunday, Feb. 19 will feature a Gospel Extravaganza at 2:30 p.m. This event is hosted
by the Omicron Phi Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., and Trinity M.B. Church.
There will be gospel music by local choirs, groups and individuals. The location has
not been finalized.
“The Gospel Extravaganza was a big thing that was started with some student members
years ago, honoring one of their members.” Campbell said. “Now we're bringing it
back.”
On Tuesday, Feb. 21 a student led history exhibition, "Racing Through Time," will
be showcased in the Tech Pride Room at 11 a.m. Later that night the annual “Soul Food
Night” will be in the Multipurpose room at 5:30 p.m. The “soulful flavors” of Jim
& Samella's House Memphis restaurant will be featured. The owners, who are featured
on Netflix's "Somebody Feed Phil,” will give a presentation. Music that night will
be provided by the School of Music’s Caribbean Ensemble.
February 22 will feature a Center Stage Event, An Evening with Ebone Bell, at 7:30
p.m. in the Derryberry Auditorium. Bell is known as a speaker, storyteller, and trailblazer,
“who shines bright in DEI, entrepreneurship, activism, and LGBTQ media.”
“We're looking at diversity, equity and inclusion in everything that we do, such as
organizing student activities, events in the program, and hosting our own events from
multicultural affairs,” Campbell said.
On Feb. 26 is the 5th Annual IMPACT Cookeville Scholarship Banquet honoring Mary
Alice McClellan and Lori Jackson Strode, at 5:30 p.m. in the Leslie Town Center in
Cookeville. For ticket information visit www.impactbanquet.com/.
“We are including the Impact Cookeville event. It is a local organization here that
awards scholarships and supports our students,” Campbell said. “We want to help support
that event and put the word out there.”
The events will wrap up on Feb. 27 with a Paint Night with Marc Burnett in the Tech
Pride Room at 6 p.m. Burnett, a Tech alumnus and former vice president of student
affairs will teach others to paint a specially designed piece of art.
There will also be a month-long program of Black history daily trivia with the history
department. Daily, weekly and overall prizes will be awarded with the questions emailed
daily.
“This will be the second year doing a daily trivia and prize giveaway for the student
body. It's not just campus departments, they have individuals as well as community
members who are interested in partnering with us from outside of campus, who have
donated prizes,” Campbell said.
Events are being co-sponsored by Intercultural Affairs, student engagement, the Student
Government Association, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, the history department,
the Commission on the Status of Blacks, the School of Music and The School of Human
Ecology.
“There's a lot of conversation, communication, coordination and planning,” Campbell
said. “We are making sure that what is being done through our traditional kind of
student engagement activities is thinking about not just from race and ethnicity,
but from an accessibility, and gender standpoint. We are trying to make sure that
diversity is a broad perspective.”
For more information on Black History Month events at Tech visit https://www.tntech.edu/intercultural/events.php.
