Planning ahead is always a smart idea, which is why a committee at EC has already started organizing events for Black History Month which will take place in the spring semester during February.

The committee is comprised of six members: Dr. Michael Wynne, Dr. Daniel Walker, Dr. Gloria Miranda, professor Maria Brown and EC counselors Dawn Reid and Brian Mims. Together they are putting together and scheduling various events and activities that will take place during Black History Month.

“The celebration of Black History Month is significant because it acknowledges the place of African Americans in society,” Brown said. “It’s not just black history, it’s American history. It’s the history of our society.”

So far, the month is set to kick off with a library exhibit about African American culture which will open Feb. 2 and go through the end of the month. The following event will be a student presentation in the Campus Theatre Feb. 11.

“That’s what our goal is as an institution,” Miranda said. “This is also educational as well as cultural enrichment.”

On Feb. 18, there will be a panel presentation with key members from the African American community.

At the end of the month there will be the Taste of Soul Artwork exhibit which will take place Feb. 27.

“We had artists (last year) who were showing some of their work,” Miranda said. “It was very successful.”

EC has been organizing Black History Month every year since the early 1970s. The staff and student diversity office organized the event for years until the job was given to Miranda who now runs the planning committee.

“They had a black student union at the time,” Brown said. “It was all studentdriven at the time.”

While students are no longer in charge of organizing the event, numerous faculty and staff members over the years have made sure that the tradition lives on, not only for educational purposse but for cultural enrichment as well.

“It is important not only for African American students but our general student population to be able to understand the significance of recognizing the contributions of our diverse society,” Miranda said.