Rutgers Celebrates Black History Month

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – Students, faculty and staff at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, will celebrate Black History Month with activities ranging from academic lectures to poetry to food. The following is a chronological listing of events on the Camden, Newarkand New Brunswick campuses.

On Feb. 1, the Center for Race and Ethnicity will present a round-table discussion on Race, Ethnicity and Regionalism in American History, Politics and Culture, beginning at noon at the Center,

191 George St.

, New Brunswick

. The panelists are Brad Evans, associate professor of English, at New Brunswick; Rocio Magana, assistant professor of anthropology, New Brunswick; Donna Murch, assistant professor of history, New Brunswick; Beryl Satter, associate professor of history, Newark; and Al Tillery, assistant professor of political science, Newark.

The opening ceremonies for Black History Month in New Brunswick will take place Friday, Feb. 5, in Trayes Hall in the Douglass Campus Center, beginning at 7 p.m. The Black Student Union will host a dinner titled Hearts for Haiti, in which speakers from various student organizations will talk about what their organizations are doing to assist earthquake victims in that country . On Saturday, Feb. 6, in The Cove at the Busch Campus Center, the Rutgers University NAACP sponsors an open mic night beginning at 7:30 p.m. The $3 admission will go for Haitian earthquake relief.

Monday, Feb. 8, is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, and Multicultural Student Involvement will offer free, confidential HIV/AIDS testing at

8 Lafayette St.

, on the College Avenue Campus, across the street from the Rutgers Club. Multicultural Student Involvement office will also offer a talk on academic success for students of color at the Douglass Student Center in New Brunswick, beginning at 7 p.m.

The Urban Bush Women dance troupe will perform at the State Theatre,

11 Livingston Ave., New Brunswick

, at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 9. Tickets are available from the Multicultural Student Involvement office on the Douglass Campus

On the Camden Campus, the Office of Campus Involvement will sponsor four lectures, panel discussions and performances on Wednesdays from 12:20 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the multi-purpose room of the Campus Center. On Feb. 3, Jennifer Kehl, assistant professor of political science, will discuss the socio-economic and environmental issues of Haiti. On Feb. 10, a panel discussion co-sponsored by the African-American Studies Program will discuss the proposition that America is headed toward a “post-racial” society, in the wake of Barack Obama’s election as president. The Feb. 17 program will feature the Universal African Drum and Dance Troop. Finally, on Feb. 24, Keith Green, an assistant professor of English, will lecture on the connection between African-American literature, Native Americans and the American experience.

On Feb. 17 at the Paul Robeson Campus Center in Newark, the Office of Student Life and Leadership will host the annual Taste of the African Diaspora at 7 p.m. in the Essex Room. This event features Kulu Mele, an African dance and drum ensemble.

On Friday, Feb.19, between 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. in the graduate student lounge of the Rutgers Campus Center on

College Ave.

, students, faculty and staff may join the Bone Marrow Registry by undergoing a simple, painless test. They may help an African-American Rutgers alumna, Jennifer Jones Austin (www.savejenaustin.com), who has been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, needs a bone marrow transplant, and must have a 100 percent match.. The 30^th annual Marion Wright Thompson Lectures will be held at the Paul Robeson CampusCenter at Rutgers-Newark on Feb. 19 and 20. The lectures constitute the largest Black History Month conference in New Jersey. This year, the theme is Laboring in the Vineyard: Scholarship and Citizenship. The speakers will include many previous speakers from the past three decades.

At Camden, in the multi-purpose room at 7 p.m. on Feb.11, there will be a soul and rhythm-and-blues concert featuring LivePOD, and in which students will also be invited to perform. Finally, there will be a bus trip to New York City to see the musical Memphis on Feb. 27, with the bus leaving Camden at noon. Tickets are available at the IMPACT booth, beginning Feb.1.