Maryville College celebrates Black History Month 2025 with a variety of activities, events
Feb. 11, 2025
Black History Month events are underway on the Maryville College campus, organized by the Black Student Alliance (BSA) and Community & Belonging.
BSA kicked off the festivities on Feb. 5 with a discussion of the groundbreaking contributions from Black inventors and scientists in technology, agriculture, medicine and various other fields, highlighting their significant impact in society and the obstacles Black individuals have overcome in STEM fields.
On Wednesday, Feb. 12, BSA will host a Mac and Cheese Workshop from 7-8 p.m. in Bartlett Hall Room 101, where attendees can learn about the influence of Black culinary traditions on cuisine while enjoying a mac and cheese feast with their choice of toppings.
Keeping with the food theme, “Trail Mix It Up” is planned for Thursday, Feb. 13. In this event, participants will create their own customized trail mix, make some self-reflective observations and talk about hard truths relating to the Black experience. This is a drop-in event, and will be held from 3-5 p.m. in Bartlett 101.
Next week, BSA will host a Bonnet Workshop from 7-8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 19, in Bartlett 101. This workshop will include education about the tradition of wearing bonnets, specifically within the context of Black hair care, protection and heritage.
From 6-8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20, there will be a Blackout Poetry Workshop in the Center for Campus Ministry, hosted by Community & Belonging. In this workshop, participants will learn about the style of blackout poetry, in which a poet takes an existing work and erases, black out or otherwise obscures a large portion of the text, creating a wholly new work from what remains. Participants will then have an opportunity to create and share their own poetic pieces.
Community & Belonging will be tabling in Pearsons Hall from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, Feb. 21, where they will have giveaway items of educational resources about Black History Month, as well as a playlist project — those who stop by can contribute their favorite songs by Black artists to create a playlist that will then be shared with the MC community.
Finally, BSA is arranging a visit to the Beck Cultural Exchange Center, a Knoxville museum dedicated to telling the history of Black Americans in East Tennessee. The visit, the date of which is still to be determined, will focus on inspiring and educating attendees about the African-American experience while celebrating the resilience, creativity, and impact of the Black community throughout history, particularly in the East Tennessee area.
Aja Rodriguez, director of Community & Belonging, said that acknowledging, understanding and celebrating Black History Month feels particularly important this year, with headlines about recent attacks on diversity efforts flooding the news.
“I think it’s imperative right now because of the time we’re living in, and it’s important to reaffirm that Black history is everyone’s history. It’s how this country was founded, and it cannot be erased,” she said.
The purpose of Black History Month is to honor the achievements, contributions and cultural impact of Black Americans. It’s also about acknowledging the struggles and systemic barriers the Black community has faced over the centuries, and recognizing how far this country still has to go in terms of progress towards equality.
With education and remembrance of history in mind, the Lamar Memorial Library staff has put together a selection of literature, educational resources and items from the MC archives that can be checked out from the library or viewed online. The full selection can be found at https://library.maryvillecollege.edu/blackhistorymonth.
Written by Julia Jeffress ’25