From staff reports
Clarion University will host its 20th annual Juneteenth celebration at 11 a.m. June 17, in the auditorium of Grunenwald Science and Technology Center and online at pennwest-edu.zoom.us.
Clarion’s program will include music, poetry and a keynote address by Bill Strickland, founder and executive chairman of Manchester Bidwell Corporation and its subsidiaries. Strickland’s educational model creates empowering education environments for adults in transition, as well as urban and at-risk youth.
Those who attend are invited to a southern-style lunch in the lobby following the program.
Clarion University has been celebrating Juneteenth for 20 years, since Dr. Brenda Sanders-Dede brought it to campus from her roots in Texas. Dede, former associate vice president for academic affairs, retired in 2018.
Dr. Joseph Croskey, executive director of Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education’s Frederick Douglass Institutes and director of Clarion University Advising Center, organized this year’s celebration.
Croskey encourages all on this Juneteenth holiday to remember the importance of listening to, understanding and accepting different voices.
The celebration is free and open to the public.