MLK Jr. & Black History Month Events and Activities:
- 2024 Black History Month Events & Activities
- MLK Jr. & Black History Month 2023 Events & Activities
- MLK Jr. Week 2022 Events & Activities
- MLK Jr. Week 2021 Events & Activities
Lavender Celebration
The William A. McClain Center annually hosts this celebration for all students who identify within the LGBTQ+ community. Students will be presented with lavender cords, which may be worn at Commencement. Dinner will be provided. Registration is required.
Hitimu-Multicultural Celebration
The William A. McClain Center annually hosts this celebration and rite of passage for graduating seniors who are members of underrepresented ethnic groups. Students will be presented with a graduation stole, representing their cultural affinity, which may be worn at Commencement. Dinner will be provided. Registration is required.
CBS Walkout
Concerned Black Student (CBS) hosts an annual Walkout to pay tribute to the 38 of the university’s then-45 black students who walked off campus in protest in 1969 after negotiations surrounding 14 demands for racial diversity between the administration and the then-recently founded CBS failed. According to William Kinnison’s Modern Wittenberg, the second of his two-part history of Wittenberg, the list of demands presented by CBS in 1969 included the recruitment of more black students, the hiring of black faculty and staff, and the offering of courses in black studies. The list of demands was prompted by the unwarranted arrest of three black guests who were visiting from another school, and the protest ended after CBS and the administration reached an agreement.
- CBS Walkout 2022 Videos
- Photos From Past Walkouts
- A Time of Transformation (2009 Wittenberg Magazine article about the 40th Anniversary of the CBS Walkout)
Unity March
Developed in an effort to promote interracial unity between Wittenberg University and the City of Springfield, students have organized a march that begins on campus, moves through the City of Springfield, and ends back on campus with singing and activities that reflect the unity seen in this community. Bands, choirs, and student organizations all cooperate to make this one of the most successful campus events each year. View Photos from past Unity Marches...