Associate Dean for Graduate Affairs, Dr. Ketra Armstrong, sent a Juneteenth greeting to School of Kinesiology faculty and staff on Friday, June 19. In it, she recounts the significance of the holiday. Although the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on January 1, 1863, the news did not reach slaves at the furthest reaches of the Confederacy until June 19, 1865. That's when Union soldiers arriving in Galveston, Texas, announced that the last remaining enslaved Black Americans were free.

Dr. Armstrong also notes that observing Juneteenth is especially relevant this year because of the number of incidents of racial injustice and violence. But she also feels that these are just the most recent reminders of our country's systemic racism. She says, "Eradicating racial injustice will require monumental change. However, as Mother Teresa stated, 'Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.' She also encouraged us to 'Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.'”

Dr. Armstrong is a professor of Sport Management, director of the Center for Race & Ethnicity in Sport (C-RAES), the director of the School of Kinesiology's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts within the university, and faculty athletics representative.

• Read Dr. Armstrong's Juneteenth message in its entirety
• Vice Provost Rob Sellers's Juneteenth statement: myumi.ch/0Wz54
• Learn more about the history of Juneteenth: juneteenth.com/history.htm