Organizations prepare for Black History Month 

DURING Black History Month, multiple events at Rider will pay tribute to and celebrate the successes of African American people throughout history. 

This month, organizations on campus will host events to raise awareness and bring support to those who deserve to be recognized within the Black community. 

The university website highlights 13 events that will be held throughout the month for Rider students, faculty and staff. 

Black History month events
Days on the calendar with an asterisk (*) have multiple events on those days. Information on those events are on the university website. Olivia Nicoletti/ The Rider News

Rider’s Executive Director of the Center for Diversity and Inclusion Pamela Pruitt said, “The event lineup we have at Rider for this month enables us to remember our Black history and how we got to where we are today.” 

Junior global studies major and President of the Black Student Union (BSU) Kayla McIntyre oversees a majority of the events regarding diversity and inclusion. 

BSU is an organization that was implemented to “create a community for African American students on this campus in order to feel like they have a support system,” McIntyre said. “We’d like to focus on the history of how we got to where we are and how we progressed from there … we really want to emphasize the contributions of those that came before us to essentially put us in a place where we can talk out about these issues.” 

On Feb. 1 at 11:30 a.m. at the Bart Luedeke Center (BLC) plaza, Black History Month will be kicked-off on campus with a Black Lives Matter flag raising, according to the BSU Instagram page. 

“Diversity and Inclusion is something that is not limited to Black History Month,” McIntyre said. “[Black History Month] gives us a chance to really narrow in and give a broader focus to issues not only that happen around the country, but also on Rider’s campus … [The] Black Student Union wants to basically help with these conversations and bring them to the table of higher ups.” 

Pruitt echoed that sentiment, saying, “We cannot eradicate racism unless we talk about race. Learning about our past can only help us to grow toward a better future as a people. While we celebrate this month and the multitude of contributions from those who came before us, we must make every effort to build up our communities to persevere through the ongoing challenges that we still face.” 

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