Message from the Provost | Recognition of Juneteenth [June 18, 2021 – Parker, CO] Dear RVU family, As we continue on our journey and understanding around issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion, I wanted to take a moment to think about Juneteenth. I have heard about Juneteenth, and had some vague notion as to what it was, but was never taught about it in school, even as a political science major in college. One of the benefits that has come out of the tragedy of systemic racism caught on cell phones and body-cams in recent years is that it has provided me, and hopefully each of us, with the opportunity to learn. Over the past few days I have heard about Juneteenth on the radio, tv news, and have read many articles about it. For those of you, who like me, didn’t know much about it – here is a brief synopsis. During the Civil War, and especially after the emancipation proclamation of 1863, many southerners sought to evade following the order by moving enslaved people to Texas. In the summer of 1865, Union troops arrived in Galveston and freed more than 250,000 black Americans. All enslaved people in American […]
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