Elon University kicked off Black History Month on Thursday, Feb. 1 with the first of many events centering around a designated theme. This year’s theme is “Rhythms of Resilience: One Soul, One Sound.”
One of the assistant directors for the Center for Race, Ethnicity and Diversity Education, Simone Royal, said the theme was chosen partially because of the way music can bring people together.
“Music is something that applies not only to students individually, but across different cultures and different heritage,” Royal said. “Music is something that connects everybody. Something that is good for healing, for trauma, for sharing experiences, for understanding each other.”
Junior Niara Legette attended the university’s Black History Month kickoff event Feb. 1. She said she was excited to see the university continue to uplift its students.
“It shows that they really care and that they want to include all groups and make all groups feel welcomed and comfortable enough to embrace their culture,” Legette said. “I think it's great. I think it says a lot about the university that they're willing to do all of this. This took so much to plan — it shows that they really care.”
The kickoff event was the first of nine Black History Month events hosted by the university.
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Fiona McAllister contributed to the reporting of this story.