This year, Black History Month at Santa Clara is all about joy.
The Inclusive Excellence Division recently announced a theme of Black Joy for this year’s Black History Month programming. Kicking off a month of festivities focused on achievement and community is a “Black Joy” men’s basketball game vs. Pacific on Feb. 1 at 4 p.m.
The idea for this year’s theme started during a Community Conversation in the fall when Black students requested more opportunities to engage in uplifting programming. Marqus Koranteng, assistant director of marketing and programming for LEAD, took this feedback to heart and saw Black History Month as an opportunity to implement it.
“The lens of Black History Month is often focused on what we had to overcome to get here when there’s so much more to the Black experience,” Koranteng says. “So in our programming this year we wanted to center that joy, instead of the struggle.”
Marqus Koranteng
When brainstorming ideas for programming, Koranteng remembered several Latinx families during LEAD week this fall asking about getting Los Broncos shirts from the women’s soccer celebration, which featured a performance by Ballet Folklórico de SCU at halftime. Koranteng reached out to Morgan DeSilva in Athletics to see if something similar was possible for Black History Month.
“I was so excited to hear from Marqus. After COVID, we’ve been working on re-establishing campus engagement and getting students involved in athletics,” DeSilva says. “I saw this as an opportunity to bridge that gap between campus and athletics. I love that athletics can have that tie-in for our Black students in the same way we did for the Los Broncos game.”
As part of the celebration, the Department of Athletics will distribute “Black Joy” t-shirts at the door, honor Black student groups, showcase the work of Black students, staff, and faculty members, and offer Black History Month Trivia on the scoreboard.
Student groups, including Igwebuike, National Society of Black Engineers, African Student Association, and others, will also lead a t-shirt toss during halftime to distribute more of the Black Joy t-shirts and spread awareness about their organizations so fans and students know how they can get involved.
“I’m excited for our students and faculty to be recognized,” Koranteng says. “We have so many unsung heroes who have done a lot of work for the Black community on campus and this is a great opportunity to give them the spotlight they deserve.”
The Inclusive Excellence Division is announcing more planned activities for “Black Joy Month,” which Koranteng hopes will provide the opportunities for students at the Community Conversations event from the fall.
“Our community is full of students, leaders, and just regular people doing joyous things,” Koranteng says. “We want to center that.”
For more information on what’s in store for “Black Joy Month,” check the Inclusive Excellence Division website in the coming weeks.
