The Whittier College campus saw a variety of events over the past week to celebrate Black History Month, with more on the horizon.
Equity Summit Week brought various opportunities to the community, including a Jan. 30 presentation and talk from Tia Brown McNair, an expert on equity and inclusion from the American Association of Colleges and Universities and author of From Equity Talk to Equity Walk: Expanding Practitioner Knowledge for Racial Justice in Higher Education. Faculty committees held a curricular reform discussion with McNair that afternoon, too.
“Students told me how they really appreciated and enjoyed the focus on equity,” said Kay Sanders, Whittier College’s associate vice president and dean of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. “It gave us a lot of food for thought, as well as motivation and steps to help us move forward as a community to make sure our students are successful, and our faculty and staff thrive.”
Thursday’s Black History Month luncheon at the Campus Inn was also popular, drawing over 300 students, staff, faculty, and community members to enjoy traditional dancing and drumming.
More food and activities followed during the Whittier College Black Alumni Association’s second annual Black Alumni Day on Saturday. In addition to lunch, the day had Deanna Adams ’07, Erika Williams (Rogers) ’93, Stephanie Wiggins ’92, and Kenya L. Williams WLS ’10 for a panel discussion titled “Whittier College, The Bridge To Success.”
“One of the alumni said it was like a family reunion,” Sanders said.
Additional Black History Month events are as follows:
- Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 4:30 p.m.: The Center for Career and Professional Development will host Thriving Authentically: Black, Careers, & Culture at the Dezember Alumni House. Like other entries in the Thriving Authentically, it will have professionals share their experiences of being from an underrepresented community in the workplace.
- Thursday, Feb. 22, at 6p.m. at Club 88: The Black Student Association, KPOET and the English department will celebrate the release of the poetry collection Trouble Funk by Whittier College's Douglas Manuel II.
Visit Engage to stay up to date on future campus events, such as Lunar New Year celebrations.
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