This week, Eastern Michigan University’s Halle Library will serve as the main venue for a two-day conference examining the legacy of campus activism. This event will be organized by the Department of Africology and African American Studies and will bring together different generations of students, faculty and EMU alumni.
The conference will take place Thursday, Oct. 1, and Friday, Oct. 2. Attendees will analyze different historical movements, measure the progress of campus against its past demands and begin to outline a strategy for future advocacy.
The chairperson of the AAAS department, Tony Pressley-Sanon, said in a news release that the conference is a moment to reflect on the past and present of the campus’s activism while paving the way for genuine inclusivity. The timing of the event marks the 10th anniversary of demonstrations in 2016, when Black students raised awareness of racist vandalism on campus, said a news release.
This also coincided with the broader Black Lives Matter movement across the country. This eventually led to the creation of the Black Student 10-Point Plan, which aimed to seek out structural changes, hire more Black faculty members, require cultural competency training for the Department of Public Safety, provide Black students with dedicated spaces and add mandatory race relations courses.
To help in preserving the history, the AAAS is also collaborating with the University Archives in gathering any historical items and records of oral history interviews with past alumni. This event is free and open to the public, with complementary parking and light refreshments served.
