Center for Diversity Activities & Programs

Cultural Heritage Months 2023-24 School Year

MLK Jr. & Black History Month Events & Activities

  • Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation
    2023-24 Wittenberg Series Event
    Weaver Chapel
    11 a.m. Monday, January 15

  • Martin Luther King Jr. Q & A Session
    2-3:30 p.m.
    Room 105, Joseph C. Shouvlin Center for Lifelong Learning
  • Hagen Center MLK Day of Service
    Student Center Geil Lounge
    2 p.m. Monday, January 15

Aesthetics in Black: A Series on Race, Art & Expression

  • LWB: Loving While Black: A Radical Ethic
    Dr. Julius Bailey
    Ness Auditorium, Hollenbeck Hall
    2:30 p.m., Thursday, February 1

  • Not my dust, But my story
    A Dialogue and Performance with the Governor's Award-winning Poet
    Sierra Leone
    Room 105, Shouvlin Center
    2:30 p.m. Tuesday, February 6

  • Hip Hop: The Creation of Culture
    Dr. Chad Sloss
    Ness Auditorium, Hollenbeck Hall
    2:30 p.m. Thursday, February 8

  • On Fear, Belonging and Being a Black Millennial Artist
    A Dialogue With The Artist
    Jamaal Durr
    111 Auditorium, Koch Hall
    2:30 p.m. Tuesday, February 13

  • Elevating The Creative In You
    A Dialogue & Mini-Dance Workshop
    Howard Washington
    Chakeres Memorial Theatre
    9 a.m. Monday, February 19

  • Black Musical History Blurring the Sacred vs. Secular Line
    Kent Brooks
    111 Auditorium, Koch Hall
    2:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 19

2024 Black History Month Events & Activities

Take a look back:


Lavender Graduation Celebration

The William A. McClain Center for Diversity 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 Graduation Celebration

The William A. McClain Center for Diversity 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

CBS Walkout 2023Concerned 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.


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...

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