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JOHNSON CITY — East Tennessee State University will commemorate Juneteenth, a federal holiday that celebrates the end of slavery in the United States, in an on-campus event later this month.
The celebration is planned for Friday, June 17, at 11:30 a.m. at the Mary V. Jordan Multicultural Center, located on the second floor of the renovated D.P. Culp Student Center.
“This is an incredibly important holiday that we are pleased to say has grown in popularity in recent decades,” said Steven C. Ellis, interim director of the ETSU Multicultural Center. “We invite the public to come to campus on June 17 for an engaging and lively event.”
Dr. Christel Young, co-president of the Black Faculty and Staff Association and director of Using Information Technology, will review the history and purpose of Juneteenth. Nationally known dancer Kasper Glasper and Universally Complicated Freestyler’s Brett Blue will also give a dance performance. Current student Style Davis will perform an original spoken word.
Juneteenth formally became a national holiday in 2021. It commemorates the end of slavery in America, marking the day that enslaved people in Texas found out they were free in 1865.
For questions about ETSU’s event, contact the Multicultural Center at (423) 439-5872 or etsumc@etsu.edu.