[270] Music, Memory, Matriculation Part Of Black History Month

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 20, 2011
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Vincent Windrow, 615-898-2238

MUSIC, MEMORY, MATRICULATION PART OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH
MTSU Venue for Dancing, Singing, Reflection, Appreciation in February

(MURFREESBORO) – Following the 150th anniversary of the end of the conflict that nearly tore the United States apart, the MTSU Black History Month Committee will present “African Americans and the Civil War: The Struggle Continues,” a slate of artistic and educational events in February.
Black History Month originated in 1926 with the first celebration of Negro History Week, which was created by historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson. Only the second African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard University, Woodson’s brainstorm raised awareness of blacks’ contributions to the American experience. MTSU’s chapter of Omega Psi Phi will sponsor a display in Woodson’s honor from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 1, on the second floor of the Keathley University Center (KUC).
Activities include the annual Unity Luncheon honoring five neighborhood heroes at 11 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 3, in the Tennessee Room of the James Union Building (JUB). The keynote speaker will be Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings, a nationally recognized pedagogical theorist and teacher educator. Ladson-Billings, the author of The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African-American Children, will deliver a Campus and Community Collaboration address that evening at 6 p.m. also in the Tennessee Room.
Dr. H. Richard Milner IV, the Betts Associate Professor of Education in the Department of Teaching and Learning at Vanderbilt University, will deliver the Brown Bag Tenure Lecture from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 22, in the JUB’s Faculty Senate Room. Milner has consulted about diversity issues, the achievement gap, curriculum development, goal-setting, developing leadership skills and effective teaching in public and private schools, universities and organizations.
Dr. Quito Swan, author of Black Power in Bermuda and the Struggle for Decolonization, will speak on “Black Power in Bermuda and Beyond” at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 23, in the KUC Theater. Swan is an assistant professor at Howard University in Washington, D.C. He specializes in the global African diaspora.
Other Black History Month events in February at MTSU include:

• Campus Sing, noon, Tuesday, Feb. 1, KUC Theater;
• Keith Craig Musical Medley, 5-6 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 1, Wright Music Hall;

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• “Omegas in the Military” Display, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 8, second floor, KUC;
• John Pleas Faculty Recognition Award, 4-6 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 8, Tom H. Jackson Building;
• “Evolution of Black Music,” 6-8 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 17, Tom H. Jackson Building;
• “Omegas in the Laboratory” Display, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 22, second floor, KUC;
• Black History Mobile Museum, 5 a.m.-5 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 23, KUC Knoll;
• “Black Girls Rock!” 6 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 24, Tom H. Jackson Building.

All events are free and open to the public unless otherwise indicated. For more information, contact Vincent Windrow, director of the Office of Intercultural and Diversity Affairs and chairman of the MTSU Black History Month Committee, at 615-898-2238 or vwindrow@mtsu.edu.

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Founded in 1911, Middle Tennessee State University is a Tennessee Board of Regents institution located in Murfreesboro and is the state’s largest public undergraduate institution. MTSU now boasts one of the nation’s first master’s degree programs in horse science, and the Council of Graduate Schools in Washington, D.C., acclaims MTSU’s Master of Science in Professional Science degree—the only one in Tennessee—as a model program. MTSU recently unveiled three new doctoral degrees in the sciences.