February is Black History Month, and VSU is acknowledging the celebration with multiple events. VSU’s own integration history dates to the early 1960s. On Sept. 8, 1963, Valdosta State College, as it was called at the time, admitted its first two Black students. Drewnell Thomas, 17, and Robert Pierce, 18, were Valdosta residents, who had previously attended segregated schools and ...

Hopper held a Black History Month interactive museum and tour that allowed students to learn more about Black history on Feb. 23. This event was started last year by Hopper staff when resident assistants wanted to do something to honor Black History Month and decided to do a museum. “We want it to stay as a tradition,” Sarrah Taouil, senior ...

Black History Month is an annual period of reflection, remembrance and honor for black people around the globe. For Gwen Sommers Redwine, the first female, black or white, CNN Headline News anchor in the 1980’s, it means so much more. She will be coming to VSU Thursday, Feb. 17 to speak about her experiences and show faculty and students what ...

On Feb. 10, VSU’s Office of Student Diversity & Inclusion hosted their Creative Forum event, Being a Black Sheep in the Creative Community. The event dealt with issues such as the creative and educational identity of the African-American community in 2022, how the past and present have affected these identities and how the surrounding communities can help amplify these identities ...

Jessie “The Hammer” Tuggle wasn’t the biggest kid coming out of high school. Even after being voted MVP of his Griffin High School football team that he led to the state semi-finals his senior year, Division I recruiters thought he was too small to compete at their level. In fact, at only 5’10 and 180 pounds, most Division II schools ...

Jonothan Smith, freshman political science major “Black history month to me is more appreciation of Black people who are actively making history. People today that are influencing the future of Blacks in America.” Robin T. Harrison, graduate student choral conducting major “Black History Month to me means remembering the people and events that gave me the liberties to live comfortably ...

VSU’s Copeland African American Museum (CAAM) features different artifacts in Thaxton Hall with new hours provided for Black History Month. CAAM has a wide-ranging number of precious artifacts of African American descent that help to create the heritage that exists today. This includes letters from historical figures, instruments that were played by bona fide artists and clips from events that ...

Throughout history, musicians have used their art as a form of communicating messages. For minorities, not only can music relay a message, but it can be a form of protest, a call to action, a celebration of cultures and more. Black artists have used their voices to create an everlasting impact in the music industry through genres such as country, ...

A couple of weeks ago, social media went into an uproar because the Academy Award nominations seemed to include only white people. That is nothing new: a few years ago, #ocarssowhite was trending on Twitter for similar reasons. The end goal of the hashtag was to make the Academy more inclusive, which they were. That lasted about one award season. ...

“In my opinion, I would say that Black History Month is where we remember and celebrate the achievements of African Americans. We also remember how they fought for us to be where we are right now. “ “It means seeing people of color in the spotlight for positive things. It’s always enriching to see how despite the odds people can ...