Sen. Rebecca Hampton introduced the legislation at Wednesday’s meeting, saying that the resolution goes beyond supporting Black History Month events.
“It’s about celebrating the accomplishments that black people have achieved in their struggles, both historically and presently,” she said.
According to the resolution, Black History Month events “serve to educate and establish a sense of community and culture at UNM.” By passing the resolution, the undergraduate student governing body pledges to support Black History Month by “serving as a committed resource to our student organizations and encouraging increased awareness and participation at UNM,” the document states.
There will be several Black History Month events put on by UNM’s African American Student Services, including a screening of the film “Fruitvale Station” on Saturday and a lecture on identity and culture on Feb. 11. The full calendar of events can be found on the African American Student Services webpage, afro.unm.edu.
William Scott Carreathers, director of African American Student Services, said that the passing of the resolution is an outstanding representation by ASUNM of the students they serve.
“It further validates the importance of the history of the African American community and its relevance to our students,” Carreathers said. “My office and I look forward to the continued Black History Month events as we strive to enlighten the UNM community.”
ASUNM President Rachel Williams recognized the importance of the resolution as it pertains to the pride UNM has in being distinctly diverse, with various cultures represented on campus.
“If you ask anyone what their favorite thing about the University is, they’re always going to say the diversity,” she said. “I think capitalizing on and recognizing the diversity in any way that we can — not just once or twice, or if we have two resolutions and we’ve met our quota for the year, but continuously.”
ASUNM Sen. Nadia Cabrera also said that UNM’s unique level of cultural diversity is something to celebrate, but that it should be natural and instinctual.
“I support everything New Mexico does to celebrate our cultures, but if it takes a resolution to tell us that we need to do it more, I think we should really take that as a wake-up call.”
Sen. Mack Follingstad acknowledged that supporting Black History Month also means supporting society itself.
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“This is a really great resolution because it isn’t just looking at black students and their accomplishments, it’s looking at society as a whole,” he said. “We can see how far we’ve come in regards to how we treat each other.”
David Lynch is a staff reporter at The Daily Lobo. He can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @RealDavidLynch.
