Commemorating Juneteenth

As we look ahead to Juneteenth this Friday, I want to take a moment to honor it with you.

On June 19, 1865, more than 250,000 enslaved people in Texas finally heard what had been true for more than two years: they were free. The Emancipation Proclamation had taken effect on January 1, 1863, but the weight of that declaration did not reach Galveston until Union troops arrived more than two years later. That gap between the promise of freedom and its reality is at the heart of what Juneteenth asks us to remember and why this day carries the weight it does.

What makes Juneteenth so enduring is what it asks of all of us: to take seriously the distance between the ideals a society proclaims and the reality its people experience. That is not always comfortable work, but it is some of the most important work a university can do.

Our mission at JMU is to prepare students to be engaged, thoughtful citizens of this world. Days like Juneteenth call us to bring the full weight of history into how we teach, how we lead, and how we learn.

At JMU, this important history has a home in programs like the African, African American, and Diaspora Studies Center and the Furious Flower Poetry Center, which bring it into classrooms and creative spaces year-round. It also finds expression in our Better Conversations Together initiative, through which JMU has become a national leader in civic discourse, reaching students across the country with the tools to engage across difference with honesty and respect. These are not peripheral programs; they are central to what it means to educate for citizenship.

If you are looking for a place to start, our own JMU Libraries has curated meaningful resources which include books, films, and historical primary sources curated by our library team. For those interested in broader observance, the Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission has gathered Juneteenth events taking place across the Commonwealth, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture offers rich digital programming and resources available to all. Those looking to observe Juneteenth in community may also want to join Governor Spanberger’s commemorative program tomorrow, June 18, at 3:30 p.m., which will be available via livestream.

This Friday, JMU joins the City of Harrisonburg and communities across the country in observing this federal holiday. However you choose to mark it, I hope it offers a genuine moment of reflection on the meaning of freedom and the ongoing work of living up to it.

With respect and gratitude,

President Jim