By Eli Hughes–
The University of Louisville announced on May 25 that, starting this year, Juneteenth will now be recognized as a university-wide holiday. Juneteenth is celebrated annually on June 19 as a commemoration of the last enslaved people in the United States to learn of and receive emancipation.
“Juneteenth, short for June Nineteenth, marks the day in 1865 when the enslaved persons in Texas and other southern states were finally freed – more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation,” President Neeli Bendapudi said in the email announcement.
“Juneteenth represents freedom for our Black community and is a powerful reminder that racial and social justice are goals that are still to be fully realized.