Capilouto: Juneteenth to be UK Holiday
LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 19, 2020) — University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto on Friday announced that starting this coming academic year Juneteenth will be a university holiday.
“June 19th is a celebration of freedom. And it is a reminder that attempts to bring equality to all people have so often been met with opposition,” Capilouto told members of the UK Board of Trustees. “It is our responsibility to make sure we do all that we can to conquer each barrier. I hope it will become a moment to pause, to reflect, and a time that compels our community to act.”
Juneteenth — June 19 — marks the day in 1865 when enslaved Texans learned they were free, the last remaining enslaved African Americans in the old Confederacy. It occurred more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed slaves in the Southern states in the heart of the Civil War.
Capilouto made the announcement Friday following the release of a multi-step action plan to increase the commitment to — and investments in — access and opportunity for Black students and communities of color on the UK campus.
The first phase of the action plan includes:
- Requiring cultural proficiency training for all faculty and teaching assistants; training on handling race discussions in the classroom; diversity and inclusion training for students prior to the start of the fall semester; and strengthening the diversity curriculum for UK 101.
- Earmarking funds for greater diversity faculty and staff recruitment.
- Creating a mini-internship program and developing a student advisory group to increase the pipeline toward careers in higher education.
- Empaneling a responsible speech committee (evaluate Creed and Code).
- Conducting a facilities audit as part of the development of a diversity/inclusivity master plan for the campus and creating a “percent for art fund” in which dollars for large capital construction projects would be earmarked to purchase diverse and inclusive art.
- Building out the development of — and consistency in policies around — diversity and inclusion officers within each UK college.
- Creating a research alliance — as UK did in response to the coronavirus — to study and develop strategies around the reduction of social and racial injustice and health disparities.
You can read more about the action plan and steps announced here: https://www.uky.edu/trustees/sites/www.uky.edu.trustees/files/ASAC-Presentation-June-2020-Updated-KH.pdf.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.
In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.