Campus Culture and Belonging hosted a free trivia game event for Black History Month at the James Kerney Campus on February 12. Student attendees answered questions about a variety of categories including Black musical history, movies, important historical figures, and more.
Black History Month is a monthlong commemoration of African-American history and achievement that has taken place each February in the United States since 1976.
Marvin Carter, the director of Campus Culture and Belonging, said, “The objectives [of the event] are for students to become acquainted with important elements of the movement for civil rights and to use that information to discuss how those individuals might treat current events.”
This event comes as various student organizations, including the Black and Brown Student Union, are active on the West Windsor Campus but maintain no presence at JKC.
Of the event, Maggie Leppert, coordinator of Campus Culture and Belonging, said, “It’s all about improving the culture here, making it more inclusive, making sure people, of all identities, feel like they belong.”
She added, “If we don’t intentionally make spaces for marginalized histories, marginalized voices, they end up not being included at all.”
Students had a variety of reasons for attending. Laverne Dickinson, a participant, said she was there “not only to win something, but just to meet other people. You know, that was a good thing. Because I don’t know her, but we did great together. We made a great team. So I like that.”
Communications Professor Alvyn Haywood, who has participated in Black history programs on and off campus for decades, says, “I think that it is important, quite frankly, for those of us who are more or less the OGs [original generation] to be able to share our experience as well as our knowledge with our younger brothers and sisters.”
