Racially exclusive event ‘discusses challenges that come with being black at Harvard’
A student group at an elite Ivy League school recently held a “convocation” meant specifically for black individuals.
Harvard University’s Black Student Association hosted the school’s first-ever Black Convocation, an event that focused on the alleged “challenges” associated with “being black at Harvard,” according to Harvard’s student newspaper, The Harvard Crimson.
The event featured a performance by the Kuumba Singers, a group that seeks to “express the creativity and spirituality of Black people,” according to the group’s website. Remarks were also delivered by African and African American Studies department chair Lawrence Bobo.
The event was organized by Harvard student Najya Williams, a member of the class of 2020, who claims that, upon arrival at Harvard, she “didn’t really feel that… black students were made to feel as welcome as they should, so it really important that we had events that made sure that was the case.”
As part of a dress code, attendees dressed all in white. The code was chosen, according to Williams, so that attendees would “show the community, show the incoming students, show even Harvard on a larger scale that we take up space as people of color. We belong on this campus. We have a purpose. We can look beautiful.”
The Black Convocation comes a few months after Harvard hosted a blacks-only graduation event in May. Segregated graduation ceremonies of varying types have been trending on campuses in recent years, as have demands for racially segregated spaces.
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