Black Faculty Staff Association Juneteenth Celebration
Wednesday, June 18, 2025
4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Robert C. Pew Grand Rapids Campus
Faculty, Staff, Students
Join us as we honor and celebrate Juneteenth, a pivotal moment in American history marking the end of the enslavement of African Americans in the United States. Our university’s Juneteenth Celebration is sponsored by the Black Faculty Staff Association (BFSA) and is a vibrant, inclusive event recognizing the resilience, culture, and contributions of African Americans.
In 1863, during the American Civil War, Pres. Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared more than three million enslaved people living in the Confederate states to be free. More than two years would pass, however, before the news reached African Americans living in Texas. It was not until Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, that the state’s residents finally learned that slavery had been abolished. The formerly enslaved immediately began to celebrate with prayer, feasting, song, and dance. (source)
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Location Information
DeVos Center Building E
Hager-Lubbers Exhibition Hall
401
Fulton St. W, Grand Rapids
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This event was added to the calendar by Laila McCloud (mcclolai@gvsu.edu) on Tuesday, December 17, 2024 and was last updated on Friday, May 23, 2025 at 3:52 p.m.