As the campus closes for Juneteenth — what many call our nation’s second Independence Day — faculty members encourage the Stetson Community to take time to reflect on the importance of this holiday, grow in historical understanding and cultural awareness, and participate in a community observance.

“This year marks the second year that Stetson has closed for Juneteenth,” said Erin Doggette, PhD, director of Diversity and Inclusion. “This is so meaningful because this offers an acknowledgment of the history and experiences of Black Americans that is often overlooked.”

The June 19 observance allows the community “an opportunity for reflection and education,” she added, while showing respect for what Juneteenth means to Black Americans. It also allows students, faculty and staff members to celebrate the holiday in a way they find meaningful.

In lieu of campus activities, Doggette and her staff encourage the Stetson Community to attend DeLand’s Unity in the Community Celebration. The free event, in its fourth year, will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, June 15, at the Wayne G. Sanborn Center (815 S. Alabama Ave. in DeLand). It will feature food, a children’s center, entertainment and speakers.

Professor of Education Patrick Coggins, PhD, JD, will be the event’s keynote speaker and address the need for unity and pushback against encroachments on Black civil rights.

“Only One America”

“I will be encouraging our citizenry to really understand that there’s only one America,” he said. “There can’t be five or six.”

“Dr. Patrick Coggins is a staple in our community who has an extensive knowledge base in history and its impact on the current makeup of our society,” commented event host Primrose Cameron, EdD, chief executive officer and founder of Sisters Build Network for Girls Inc.

“As a well-respected professor and community advocate, Coggins has spent a great deal of time as a researcher and educator across the globe,” she said. “He is a true asset to our community and to the vision of Juneteenth DeLand.”

The holiday hearkens to June 19, 1865, when slaves in Texas and Louisiana finally learned of the Emancipation Proclamation issued two years earlier. Juneteenth, named as a federal holiday in 2021, has come to represent the day when all Blacks were able to embrace freedom.

The news came the same year as the passage of the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery. The passage of the 14th Amendment, granting citizenship and equal rights to all Blacks, came three years later, followed in 1868 by the 15th Amendment, granting Black men the right to vote.

“What is significant about this is that if there was no Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, if there was no 13th Amendment in 1865, there would not have been a 14th Amendment in 1868 or a 15th Amendment in 1870,” Coggins said.

A failure to teach about history of a specific culture will cause that history or culture to be forgotten, rendering as faceless the individuals or groups affected, the professor warned. 

“By celebrating Juneteenth, we’re putting a face on those African Americans then and now who struggle to achieve the three goals of Juneteenth,” Coggins said. “These were freedom from slavery, the right to become a citizen, the right to vote and, most important, the right to be accepted as a legitimate member of American society.”

– Cheri Henderson