In his commentary, Blake analyzed Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness’ historic third-term electoral victory. He highlighted how reductions in crime, investments in infrastructure and debt stabilization contributed to the Jamaica Labour Party’s success. Blake also noted the challenges Holness faces, including modernizing health care, improving education, and sustaining public security. His analysis underscores the broader implications of Jamaica’s political trajectory for good governance, security and economic growth.

The publication can be found

Organized by Wellesley’s departments of Africana Studies and Religious Studies, the conference brings together prominent scholars from across the nation to address Black women’s spirituality, past and present.

Otieno’s talk, “Mama Said Knock You Out: Spiritual Agency, Power and Protest,” focused on women and naked protests on the African continent. In it, she sought to dispel some of the confusion surrounding naked protests in the public sphere by discussing the socioethical considerations related to exposing the nude female body to activate and harness spiritual power.

This talk is part of a larger research project addressing women’s roles in protests that inspire social change and in protests demanding communal transformation through Divine intervention and otherworldly power. In her work, Otieno argues that protests establish new moral orderings of communities that challenge longstanding ideals by reconstructing views and perceptions of morality.

These days, February brings a wealth of opportunities for learning, reflection and advocacy around Black history and the legacies of anti-Black racism on Elon’s campus and around the country. While you’re likely to see pop-up exhibits around campus this month that utilize materials from the �þ��� Archives & Special Collection, this seems a particularly appropriate time of year to remind the campus of the records, papers and artifacts related to Elon’s Black history that the Archives makes available to students, faculty, staff and the public year-round.

Online Resources 

Not all of the materials in the �þ��� Archives & Special Collections are available online. Still, there are several small collections and exhibits that represent a good start to exploring Elon’s Black history.

Since its inception in 2018, the Committee on Elon History & Memory has worked closely with the Archives to uncover hidden, unsung, and sometimes difficult histories on campus, including the underdeveloped stories of Black contributions and Black excellence at Elon. After the release of the committee’s 2020 report (see the Recommended Reading section below), the Archives created a special online collection that brings together some of the resources used to write the report, many of which document Elon’s Black history.

�����Ի� Freedom Footprints—The Archives also created an interactive map exhibit that connects the campus’s physical spaces with the stories told in the 2020 Committee on Elon History and Memory report, allowing users to walk through Black history on campus. In the summer 2024, the original tour was adapted to create a thought-provoking Juneteenth walking tour titled “Freedom Footprints.” 

This student project, researched and created by Emily Lange ’21, a 2019 recipient of the Lumen Prize, documents the origins of the African and African American Studies at Elon minor. Starting with the first request for a Black studies course in 1969 and working through Wilhelmina Boyd’s successful launch of the minor in 1994, the exhibit highlights the importance of student advocacy in the long fight for academic recognition on campus.

This collection currently houses only a few interviews germane to Black history on Elon’s campus, but watch this space for new resources (see Expanding the Collections, below).

�����Ի� ��DZ����𳦳پ��DzԲ�—A sampling of our total photographic and video holdings is available in our online collections and are searchable there, but we have many more AV resources in our collections. Contact an archivist at belkarchives@elon.edu for more information.

Physical Collections 

Within our physical collections, we are always working to identify entry points to Black history and the Black experience on our campus and beyond. What follows is a list of materials we know to be relevant to understanding Black history at Elon. These can be accessed in the Archives Reading Room at Belk Library. Email belkarchives@elon.edu for more information.

Books and Publications—Moments in Elon’s Black history have been captured in a range of campus publications, including campus newspapers like the Maroon and Gold (1920-1970), the Veritas Liberated Press (1968-1970), Broadside Today (1972-1973), and the Pendulum (1974-ongoing); in the Phi Psi Cli yearbook (1913-ongoing); administrative publications like the Elon College/University fact books; newsletters like Black Underground; in original research like L’Tanya Richmond’s master’s thesis, “Elon’s Black History: A Story to Be Told” (2005); and in recent campus reports like the Black Lumen report (2023). Many of these publications have been digitized and are now fully searchable online.

EUA012 Elon Athletics Collection, 1891-ongoing (13 archival boxes, 18 bound volumes, plus unprocessed material)—Athletics represented a pathway to join the Elon community for Black student-athletes, and Black athletes were at the forefront of the fight for equity on campus from the late 1960s onward. This collection includes a variety of materials and documents that relate to the history of athletics at �þ���.

EUA040 �þ��� Biographical Files—This collection includes biographical information about individuals associated with �þ��� and the Town of Elon, including some of the founders of the institution, faculty and staff, and alumni. Documents within each folder contain a variety of items, such as newspaper clippings, correspondences, essays and memoirs, and other types of printed materials.

EUA041 Elon Files (General and Administrative)— This collection includes general information files about departments on campus, events, courses, organizations and other miscellaneous subjects associated with Elon. The files are arranged alphabetically and span eight file cabinet drawers. For example, the “Black Cultural Society/Black Student Union” folder was cited in the 2020 report by the Committee on Elon History & Memory.

EUA095 Gospel Choir Collection, 1980-ongoing (three archival boxes)—The Gospel Choir at Elon was founded in 1977 by a group of African American students in search of fellowship on campus. The Gospel Choir Collection includes documents about the organization from 1980 to the present day. Documents include materials such as correspondence, receipts or financial records, advertising flyers, programs and membership listings.

EUA098 African and African American Studies Collection, 1969-ongoing (four archival boxes)— This collection consists of materials relating to the founding and continued work of the African and African-American Studies Program at �þ���.

EUA134 Center for Race, Ethnicity, and Diversity Education (CREDE) Collection, 1992-ongoing (one archival box)—This collection pertains to multicultural affairs across Elon’s campus, including the creation of the CREDE, as well as some information on the African and African-American Studies minor.

EUA155 Anti-Racism at Elon Collection, 2020-ongoing (one archival box)— This is a collection of correspondence, news articles, and reports related to anti-racism efforts at �þ���, as well as events that took place at �þ��� and in Alamance County in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May 2020. The collection includes the report of the Committee on Elon History & Memory released in October 2020.

EUA159 Black Excellence Awards Collection, 1993- ongoing (one archival box)—This collection encompasses the history of the Black Excellence Awards from their creation in 1993 to the present day. It includes both programs and invitations from past Black Excellence Awards ceremonies and news articles discussing the Black Excellence Awards. Particularly of note are the programs and newspaper coverage relating to the inaugural award ceremony in 1993.

MSS005 William H. Maness Collection, 1957-2000 (two archival boxes)—The William H. Maness collection contains a variety of materials relating to his tenure as a judge in Jacksonville, Florida, as well as issues of racism, social inequality, the Civil Rights Movement in the United States and the strides people took to promote the well-being and equality of the human race. 

Expanding the Collections 

Like all archives, the �þ��� Archives & Special Collections represents the goals, values and priorities of its participants over the years of its existence. For much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the history and experiences of those who identified as Black or African American were ignored, elided, or just plain excluded from official archives and records—and Elon was no different. Within the EUA&SC, we’re committed to making the Archives a place that reflects the histories of the whole community. In the hopes of filling in some of those “archival silences,” we are always seeking materials that speak to the Black and African American experience on campus. In particular, we plan to begin an oral history program within the Archives that will focus on recovering Black voices, with input from the Committee on Elon History & Memory. We also must acknowledge that, in some cases, evidence and information has simply been lost to history. It’s a difficult truth that keeps us motivated in our efforts to build a more equitable and accurate archive for the future.

References and Recommended Reading 

Alvarez, Shaunta. “Elon’s First Black History Celebration.” Under the Oaks (blog). February 1, 2012. .

Black Lumen Project. The Black Experience at Elon: A Black Lumen Project Report. Elon, NC: �þ���, 2023. .

Committee on Elon History and Memory. Report and Recommendations. 2020. Elon, NC: �þ���, 2022. .

Richmond, L’Tanya. “Elon’s Black History: A Story to Be Told.” Master’s thesis, Duke University, 2005. �þ��� Archives and Special Collections, Elon, NC.

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation began its annual observation of the  in 2017, commemorated on the Tuesday following Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The event is a call to action that works with the national Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation effort, which is a community-based process that seeks to bring transformational and sustainable change. The luncheon will give participants time to reflect on shared values and collaborate on crafting the blueprint for #HowWeHeal at Elon.

“Over the past year, members of our community have witnessed or experienced harm and marginalization based on race, shared ancestry and other aspects of identity due to local, national and global events.,” said Carla Fullwood, director of inclusive excellence education and development. “This Community Building and Healing Luncheon will provide a space to share stories, raise awareness, repair harm and restore a sense of community. ”

The luncheon, hosted by the Office of Inclusive Excellence and Education Development (OIEED) and the Center for Race, Ethnicity, and Diversity Education (CREDE), is an opportunity to unite individuals in their shared humanity and create action toward building a more equitable world.

“This event offers a space to engage in meaningful conversations, discover shared values across communities and explore practical strategies to promote racial healing at Elon,” said Anna Matawaran ‘25, executive intern for the Division of Inclusive Excellence.

Following the luncheon, there will be a screening of the Emmy-award winning documentary “Talking Black in America: Roots,” followed by a panel discussion with producers and sociolinguists Walt Wolfram (N.C. State University) and Tracey Weldon (University of South Carolina). Elon’s Corey Roberts, assistant professor of Native American and Indigenous studies, will moderate the discussion. The documentary connects the stories of the peoples and societies of Ghana, the Bahamas, the Gullah Geechee people in the Southeastern United States and more to show how African American Vernacular English and Black culture developed.

“We organized the event for our Core Capstone courses, which explore the legacies of linguistic variation, like African American English, an English dialect spoken by African Americans and developed over time because of the history of the African diaspora,” said Amanda Kleintop, assistant professor of history. “We hope that it helps raise awareness of the importance of linguistic variation and how the interdisciplinary study of chattel slavery’s legacies can teach us to respond to racial inequity in new ways.”

Kleintop and Archie Crowley, assistant professor of English, organized the screening with sponsorship from African & African-American Studies, American Studies, Center for the Study of Religion, Society and Culture, Museum and Public History Studies, Elon’s Fund for Excellence in the Arts & Sciences and collaboration by the School of Communications.

The National Day of Racial Healing brings a clear understanding of racial healing and racial equity and the process helps individuals learn how to build relationships, trust and understand community

“National Day of Racial Healing represents hope for a future where BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) communities feel whole, valued and supported. It’s a day that encourages individuals to share their stories, reflect on their lived experiences and feel empowered to advocate for change,” said Matawaran.

The focus of National Day of Racial Healing aligns with Elon’s commitment to being a community that supports belonging and well-being. �þ��� first hosted an event for the National Day of Racial Healing in 2022.

“As a campus community that values relationships and respect for human differences, we acknowledge the National Day of Racial Healing as an opportunity to continue building and strengthening connections across differences” said Fullwood.

Upcoming Events 

National Day of Racial Healing Community Building and Healing Luncheon
Tuesday, Jan. 21, from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. McEwen Dining Classroom
The National Day of Racial Healing is a time to contemplate our shared values and create the blueprint together for #HowWeHeal from the effects of racism. Spots are limited. Registration is required.

Talking Black in America: Roots
Tuesday, Jan. 21 from 2:30 to 5 p.m. Turner Theatre
A screening of “Talking Black in America: Roots” followed by a panel discussion featuring Tracey Weldon, Walt Wolfram and moderated by Corey Roberts.

The documentary connects the stories of the people and societies of Ghana, the Bahamas, the Gullah Geechee people in the southeastern U.S. and more to explore how African American English and Black diasporic cultures developed together.

The panelists, documentary producers and sociolinguists Walt Wolfram (N.C. State University) and Tracey Weldon (University of South Carolina) will speak after the screening. Elon’s Corey Roberts, assistant professor of Native American and Indigenous studies, will moderate the interdisciplinary event, sponsored by African & African-American Studies, American Studies and Museum and Public History Studies, with support from Elon’s Fund for Excellence in the Arts & Sciences and collaboration by the School of Communications.

Turner Theatre is located in Schar Hall, 123 N. Williamson Ave.

“Roots of Rhythm: An Introduction to West African Dance” includes digital music, song tutorials and an animated avatar named Amma that guides learners through choreography. It was published this fall by and complements African dance courses Gee teaches in Elon’s Dance Program. The textbook’s cover image features Elon alumna Kayla Spalding ’23, and accompanying images within the text feature Khairi Morrow ’25.

“West African dance has always been passed down orally and physically, but with digital tools and AI, like Amma, students get to see and practice the moves whenever they want, while learning about the culture behind them,” Gee said. “I wanted to make it easier for everyone — whether you’re totally new to dance or already have experience — to connect with this powerful art form and understand how deeply it’s tied to the history and rhythms of the people.”

Gee used AI to create and animate Amma, which she realized would be a powerful �þ��� tool for a dance form that is less widely studied. She began the textbook as a way to enhance her courses, where students are challenged to retain movement and sequencing as they build skills from class to class. She already uses video recordings of class sessions to support learning, but discovered the Krikey AI platform and began the exploration process that led to Amma.

“West African dance is for everyone, so my hope for this book is that it can serve as an accessible and inclusive resource for individuals with varying abilities,” Gee said. “I want to make the material approachable for a wide range of readers by presenting concepts in ways that encourage diverse approaches to learning and interaction.”

It also advances Gee’s mission of raising the prominence of West African dance and traditions within higher education. That work aligns with Inclusive Excellence at Elon by recognizing and uplifting underrepresented and marginalized cultural knowledge, elevating global perspectives and — through technology — making learning more inclusive. Gee is also the coordinator of Elon’s African and African-American Studies Program.

“This textbook brings a form of dance that isn’t always considered ‘academic’ into higher education in a way that respects its traditions while making it accessible to more people,” Gee said. “It opens up new ways of thinking about how we can use technology to preserve culture and make learning more engaging and interactive. It’s not just about watching and copying—it’s about really understanding and embodying the meaning behind the moves, and that’s what makes it both fun and important.”

The Jamaican don is a non-state actor, a male figure, usually from the community in which he plays a leadership role, and who wields considerable power and control inside that nation’s garrison communities. Garrisons in Jamaica are poor inner-city communities characterized by homogeneous voting patterns for one of Jamaica’s two major political parties: the People’s National Party and the Jamaica Labour Party.

With revelatory insight, “Don Dada” explores the major roles dons play in their communities and how the activities of these non-state criminal actors have influenced the governance process. Focusing on communities in the downtown metropolitan area of Kingston, the capital city, the book investigates the evolution of the don from the 1960s to the present and their roles of security/protection, social welfare, partisan mobilization and law and order.

Blake contends that dons have emerged as embedded governing authorities in Jamaican garrisons based on the socio-economic and political roles they carry out and puts forward a peace-building model to dissolve the power of dons and their gangs in Jamaica’s marginal communities.

Blake has served as a consultant with  Jamaica’s Ministry of National Security on its violence prevention program, “Unite for Change.” He is also a guest columnist and political commentator with the Gleaner newspaper and Nationwide News Network radio station in Jamaica, contributing commentary pieces and analysis on Caribbean electoral politics, political economy, violence and organized crime.

Blake also provides expert country reports, analysis and affidavits to legal firms in the United States and the United Kingdom on immigration matters related to Jamaicans & other Caribbean nationals in deportation proceedings.

His �þ��� areas are: Comparative Politics and Government; National Security, Politics of the Caribbean, Introduction to International Relations, Elon Core Curriculum and interdisciplinary courses which include The Black man in America. Blake’s research areas are: Organized Crime and urban violence in the Americas; Democracy and Mass participation in the U.S.; Social Justice and Race the U.S.; and Caribbean politics, governance and development.

The events, initiatives and workshops funded through Fund For Excellence mini grants will strengthen community outreach, promote deeper understanding of historical and contemporary issues, and support scholarship or enhance existing programs.

The Fund for Excellence advances �þ���’s mission by supporting projects and programs that deepen the values, intellectual community, research, �þ��� and ways of thinking that are characteristic of the liberal arts and sciences. Faculty, staff and students are eligible to apply for funding, and proposals can be departmental or organizational, as well as interdisciplinary or collaborative across departments, schools and other campus entities.

“The purpose of the Fund for Excellence in the Liberal Arts and Sciences is to support projects that enhance student opportunities to engage with academic exploration, to deepen knowledge in the arts and sciences, and to broaden their perspectives as they prepare to become global citizens. These initiatives meet that mission,” said Nancy Harris, associate dean of Elon College and professor of biology, who coordinates the fund through the Elon College Dean’s Office. “The variety, scope and number of proposals submitted this year reflect the collaborative and innovative approaches to the liberal arts and sciences across �þ���’s faculty, staff and students.”

A record 16 proposals were submitted in spring 2024. Each year, recipients are selected by a committee appointed by the president of Elon’s chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. This year’s committee members were Harris; Heather Lindenman, associate professor of English; Patricia Perkins, associate professor of law; Shannon Tennant, coordinator of library collections and associate librarian; and Karen Yokley, professor of mathematics.

Projects awarded funding for 2024-25 included:

STEM Saturday at Elon

An outreach program for students in the Alamance-Burlington School System to explore studies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics at Elon. The event is led by students in Elon’s STEM clubs.

• Submitted by Anthony Rizutto, associate professor of , and Ahlam Armaly, assistant professor of chemistry.

Making the Invisible Visible: German-Jewish Migration from Nazi Germany to Latin America

Brings scholar Bjorn Siegel, a researcher at the Institute for the History of the German Jews in Hamburg, to Elon to meet with Elon classes and deliver his presentation, “Making the Invisible Visible: German-Jewish Migration from Nazi Germany to Latin America,” aligning with curricula in the Latin American Studies, Jewish Studies, International and Global Studies and Museum Studies and Public History programs.

• Submitted by Andrea Sinn, associate professor of history, and Juan Leal Ugalde, assistant professor of Spanish.

Creative Approaches to Complex Pasts

This project will create a dance film based on one of 10 episodes in �þ���’s 2020 Report from the Committee on Elon History and Memory. Assistant Professor of Dance Keshia Wall will choreograph and direct the film. The spring 2025 screening will be accompanied by a panel discussion including partners and community members.

• Submitted by Keshia Wall, assistant professor of dance; Buffie Longmire-Avital, professor of psychology, faculty administrative fellow, and director of the Black Lumen Project; Evan Gatti, professor of art history; and Amanda Laury Kleintop, assistant professor of history.

African Diasporas in North Carolina: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Understanding the History & Legacies of Enslavement

Provides three opportunities for the Elon community to engage with the history of slavery and the African diaspora in North Carolina during Winter Term. Those include a screening and panel discussion of the documentary “Talking Black in America: Roots,” and visits to the Stagville State Historic Site and Burlington’s African American Cultural Arts and History Center.

• Submitted by Amanda Laury Kleintop, assistant professor of history; Archie Crowley, assistant professor of English; Erin Pearson, assistant professor of English; Keshia Wall, assistant professor of dance; Devin Proctor, assistant professor of anthropology.

Cinematic Bridges

In association with the Global Film and Cultures Minor, this project will bring two international films to campus for discussion; invite screenwriter, filmmaker and co-creator of the Slamdance Film Festival, Dan Mirvish, to Elon as a guest speaker; and include a pre-recorded interview with Phylicia Pearl Mpasi ’15, a star of “The Color Purple,” to accompany that film’s screening.

• Submitted by Kai Swanson, assistant professor of cinema and television arts, and Lina Kuhn, lecturer in English.

Equipping the EcoVillage LLC

This project will provide workshops and guest speakers to lead events at the EcoVillage in its first year, including topics in Afro-Caribbean herbalism, nature drawing and environmental justice.

• Submitted by Jacob Rutz, lecturer in environmental studies; Michael Strickland, lecturer in English and environmental studies; and Ashley Hollan, visiting assistant professor in arts administration.

Alumni Voices: Conversations with Political Insiders on the 2024 Election

This series of events will bring alumni to campus who are working in policy, politics and journalism ahead of the November elections. They include an investigative reporter covering campaign fraud, an advance manager for a governor and a state political director for a presidential campaign who will share their experiences with campus audiences.

• Submitted by Jillian Auditori, lecturer in political science and policy studies, and Israel Balderas, assistant professor of journalism.

Engineering Takes Center Stage: Bridging the Arts and Sciences

An interdisciplinary project between Elon’s Departments of Engineering and Department of Performing Arts for engineering students to program the choreography and design artificial fur for two robot dogs that will perform in scenes of “Legally Blonde: The Musical.”

• Submitted by Courtney Liu, assistant professor of music theatre, and Blake Hament, assistant professor of engineering.

Celebration and Appreciation of Holi

Elon’s Periclean Scholars will enhance the annual Holi event hosted by the Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life in March 2025 by adding traditional music, dance, decoration, Indian food, and cultural crafts like henna.

• Submitted by the Periclean Class of 2026

Stories Beyond Borders

Lula Carballo, a Québécois author of Spanish American descent and Emilie Guerette, a Québécois film director, will visit Elon for guest lectures, readings and a film screening. Their appearances will provide students’ deeper understanding of issues around immigration from their lived experiences and creative works.

• Submitted by Bethany Sudibyo, lecturer in Spanish, Ketevan Kupatadze, senior lecturer in Spanish, and Olivia Choplin, associate professor of French and interim director of the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning.

Climate, Communities and Conversations

Expands the Highway 64 Project, which covers communities across the state, to include issues of climate change and resiliency in North Carolina. It also would connect Elon to communities by hosting virtual roundtable discussions and bringing expert speakers to campus for workshops and lectures.

• Submitted by Michael Strickland, lecturer in English and environmental studies.

�þ��� Sustainability Week Keynote Speaker

This initiative brings attorney and author Corban Addison to Elon and Elon Law as the keynote speaker of �þ��� Sustainability Week and to meet with students, faculty and staff. Addison is the author of the international bestseller, “Wastelands: The True Story of Farm Country on Trial,” which tells the story of an eastern North Carolina community’s legal battle for environmental justice against a company in the hog industry.

• Submitted by Kelly Harer, associate director of sustainability for education and outreach, and Eric Townsend, assistant vice president for academic communications.

Analogue Experience in a Digital Age

Develops a philosophy and film course that integrates analog films and student filmmaking into an interdisciplinary study of philosophy. The course would culminate in a symposium and screening.

• Submitted by Nathan L. Smith, assistant professor of philosophy, and Stephen Bloch-Schulman, professor and chair of the Department of Philosophy.

“My heart is full of gratitude about the leadership that has resulted in such a meaningful experience for so many of our students, faculty and staff,” said President Connie Ledoux Book. “There’s a passion in African and African-American Studies at Elon, and that’s resulted in the relationships and mentoring that happen in its courses and experiences.”

The gala event was held in Lakeside Meeting Rooms in Moseley Center and featured remarks by President Emeritus Leo Lambert, current program coordinator Keshia Wall, who is an assistant professor of dance, and other faculty involved with the minor.

The African and African-American Studies minor was established in 1994 with Associate Professor Emerita of English K. Wilhelmina Boyd as its first coordinator. It grew from Professor Emeritus of History Brian Digre’s efforts to found the International and Global Studies program with an interdisciplinary emphasis on African culture, history and politics, supported by grants from the U.S. Department of Education.

Book spoke to the “creative depth” in the program and the value of linking the study of African and African American history and cultures for broad understanding of the African diaspora. Over decades, courses in the minor have grown to span disciplines including art and art history, dance, history, human service studies, psychology, sociology and anthropology, among others. The program also includes global study experiences in Ghana, South Africa, Malawi and Barbados.

Looking to the future, Book outlined expected growth on the African continent and emphasized the minor’s role in developing graduates prepared to be global leaders and problem-solvers. The median age there is 19 years old, compared to 39 in the U.S. and 49 in Japan. By 2050, Africa’s population will grow from 1.5 billion to 2.5 billion, and the continent will be home to more than a quarter of people on the planet.

“With the world’s youngest population, the countries in Africa will drive cultural and consumer trends, economic strategies and learning. They will become a force of the future,” Book said. “That’s at the heart of what the minor and the education in its courses are designed to teach. It’s exciting to think about the work, the courses, and the learning that’s happening in African and African-American Studies as awareness of this strengthened Africa as a rising continent grows.”

Previous coordinators Prudence Layne, associate professor of English, and Buffie Longmire-Avital, professor of psychology and director of the Black Lumen Project, were recognized by faculty colleagues Sandra Reid, senior lecturer in human service studies, and Cheryl Miller Dyce, associate professor and executive director of diversity equity and inclusion for the Dr. Jo Watts Williams School of Education.

A candle-lighting ceremony memorialized Boyd — also the namesake of Elon’s Office of African and African-American Studies, located on the third floor of the Alamance Building — and Heidi Frontani, a professor of geography who served as an interim coordinator before her passing in 2016.

Lambert recalled “one of the most profound learning experiences of my life” accompanying the GBL 2300 The Call of South Africa course with Layne and Reid to work with communities while witnessing lasting effects of apartheid and racial violence. He praised faculty and staff for their contributions to Elon, particularly in creating courses that deepen understanding of inequity and in leading institutional efforts to make Elon more equitable.

“I’m deeply grateful to all of you for caring so much to advance Elon on a continuing journey to become a stronger and more just institution,” Lambert said. “My greatest hope for this evening is that we leave with a fraction of a god’s-eye view of the huge impact this program has had on people’s lives, the ripples it has created in the world and the good trouble that has caused.”

Wall acknowledged that students and alumni — including the minor’s first graduate, Sowandé Mustakeem, an associate professor of history and African and African-American Studies at Washington University in St. Louis and author of “Slavery at Sea: Terror, Sex, and Sickness in the Middle Passage” — provide inspiration to continue creatively growing the program.

“We recognize the critical role that education plays in advancing social justice and global citizenship,” Wall said. “As we continue to evolve and grow, we remain committed to providing students with transformative learning experiences that empower them to be informed, engaged and compassionate global citizens.”

The fellowship includes membership to the National Women’s Studies Association and connection to professional development opportunities through the association’s conferences and committees. The association awards the fellowship to 40 people each year.

The Women of Color Leadership Project is designed to increase the number of women of color among students, staff and faculty within the field of women’s studies and to raise their participation and influence in the field. The project is sponsored by the association’s Women of Color Caucus, Program Administration and Development Committee and the Women’s Centers Committee.

The project has trained more than 400 women from North America, Asia and Europe since it was founded more than 20 years ago. Former participants have gone on to serve in leadership roles in the National Women’s Studies Association, including president, vice-president and chairs of caucuses.

As a fellow, Wall attended the Women of Color Leadership Pre-Conference and the NWSA Annual Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, Oct. 26-29.

“I had the privilege of being immersed in the company of exceptional women of color, each of whom holds leadership roles within their respective higher education institutions. The experience has undeniably enriched me, equipping me with a wealth of valuable resources and a renewed sense of motivation, all of which I have brought back to Elon,” Wall said.