ORLANDO, Fla. — Juneteenth commemorates the historic day that marked the end of slavery in the United States. It marks the day in 1865 when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to announce that the last enslaved people in the state were free.
In June 2021, Congress passed a resolution establishing Juneteenth as a federal holiday. Since then, this celebration has grown significantly, extending its reach deep into the heart of Central Florida.
Friday morning, a group of UCF students gathered for their first annual Juneteenth field day.
“This is the first time we’re doing it. So, it’s pretty exciting,” academic support coordinator with UCF TRIO Janila Dunn said. “We’re here getting the kids out in summertime. So, we thought it would be a great idea, great option to get them out and active.”
Attendees got to play games with their teams and have some fun while also learning about the meaning of the holiday with Black history trivia questions.
“I think this is a very important event… It’s like a combination of high school and college students celebrating one holiday,” volunteer with Project BEST Andrea Lugo said. “And then we’re also doing some trivia questions, which refreshes our mind. We’re studying the history and celebrating and remembering what happened.”
The event was organized by UCF TRIO, home to four federally funded pre-collegiate and collegiate grant programs. Their collegiate programs, PRIME STEM and Project BEST, are Student Support Services programs. Housed on UCF’s main campus, these programs serve undergraduate college students who are first-generation and/or low-income.
Both programs offer academic support services, opportunities and resources to enhance personal skills and academic excellence.
They also have pre-collegiate programs, Project ACE, and Project EDGE, which serve students who attend either Apopka High School or Edgewater High School.
“At UCF, we are very diverse here. So, we wanted to highlight a very important holiday… we mainly have a majority of Black students here, so we wanted to go ahead and celebrate them and their culture and just enjoy all of us together,” Dunn said.
The mission of UCF TRIO is to help undergraduate students who are first-generation, low-income, or with disabilities succeed in college by offering academic tutoring, coaching and graduate school preparation to boost retention and graduation rates.
International students also took part in the celebration.
“It’s very important to celebrate the history and culture of wherever you are. So as an international student from Pakistan, I feel very honored to come here and celebrate, or host even an event for Juneteenth to celebrate history and culture here in America,” UCF student Alishba Imran said.