DUNMORE, Pa. — With Black History Month underway, campus organizers have announced upcoming events and an educational display that the campus community can check out to learn more about Black history and culture. The main event is a free bus trip for students to Washington D.C to visit the Black History Museum and other monuments.
The Black Student Union has planned a Spirit Week for Feb. 9-13, with different activities every day:
Monday, Feb. 9: A Cultural Cuisine event featuring ethnic foods will take place in the View Café at noon and is free for all students.
Tuesday, Feb. 10: A Family Feud game will take place at noon in the View Café.
Wednesday, Feb. 11: A movie night will take place from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Sherbine Lounge in the Study Learning Center. This event is being co-hosted with the Engineering Club. Pizza, cupcakes, cookies and popcorn will be served.
Thursday, Feb. 12: A game night will take place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the game room in the Study Learning Center. There will be a variety of games, Black History Month trivia and prizes.
Friday, Feb. 13: The men’s and women’s basketball games in the campus’ Multipurpose Building will have a “Black Out” theme. Attendees are being asked to wear black and come out to support the teams. The women’s game starts at 6 p.m. and the men’s game starts at 8 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 28: Penn State Scranton students can participate in a free trip to the Black History Museum in Washington D.C. In addition to the museum, participants will also tour other national monuments and have lunch at a local restaurant. There will be an upcoming informational meeting the week of Feb. 16 and all those planning to go are asked to attend. An announcement will be posted on campus, or contact Student Services at 570-963-2690.
In addition to the activities planned by the Black Student Union, there is also a display in the campus library commemorating Black History Month.
Mary Ann Joyce, library operations supervisor, put the display together, which features books, videos and historical facts and quotes. Joyce said when she was deciding which types of items to include for the display, she opted for both modern and historical books.
A self-proclaimed film buff, she chose movies about the Black experience and cinema books. Some of the movies featured are fiction such as Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing” and others are based on true events like “Miss Evers’ Boys” and “Straight Outta Compton.”
Joyce said she finds it interesting to learn more about American history and different viewpoints and stories, especially ones that the average person may not know about, so she tries to include items that the average person may not have seen or heard of before.
“I always like to include books that show the hardships during the Civil Rights movement that Black Americans endured, and some of the leaders of that movement that are well-known, and [those] that maybe are not as well known,” she said. “It’s interesting to learn more about American history and different viewpoints and stories that might not be commonly known.”
The quotes she featured in the display were, likewise, chosen to reflect both popular and more obscure passages.
“I tried once again to use some that might be popularly known, and others that just spoke to me,” Joyce explained. “I enjoy quotations that strike me as meaningful or beautiful, and I like to think about the people that created the quotations and why.”
All the items in the display are available to be checked out at any time. Joyce said she hopes that even if a patron doesn’t check out an item, they might be moved to stop and pick it up and browse. She decided to put the display in the middle of the library so that people will walk past and maybe think a little bit about what makes up Black history in America.
Both Spirit Week, organized by the Black Student Union, and the library display are meant to show Penn State Scranton’s commitment to commemorating Black History Month and other cultures.
Students are encouraged to take advantage of the opportunities available this month and to learn more about Black History Month.