History & Memory

Cherrel Miller Dyce, associate professor of education and executive director of diversity, equity and inclusion at the Dr. Jo Watts Williams School of Education, Ms. Marlene Harrison-Reid, a teacher with Guilford County Schools, and Deanna Townsend-Smith, senior director at the Dudley Flood Center, facilitated this summer experience for participating teachers.

The report from the university’s Black Lumen Project celebrates the milestones and contributions of Black students, faculty and staff at Elon.  

As Elon University prepares for Juneteenth, three faculty members in leadership roles with the Committee on History & Memory and the Black Lumen Project offer this reflection on the holiday, work underway at Elon and work yet to be done to move toward racial equity.  

With the theme of “Reconciling with our Present by Exploring our Past,” the monthlong series is drawing upon the work of the Committee on Elon History and Memory.

CREDE and other partners host facilitated discussions on race and racism in our communities for faculty and staff.

Members from the Committee on Elon’s History and Memory shared Elon’s progress toward reconciling a complicated history at the consortium’s semi-annual meeting.

Russaw, esteemed theological scholar, lectured to challenge the traditional thinking of a well-known story in the Bible and explored the importance of a woman in the Israelites conquering of Jericho.

The psychology faculty member will lead a new equity initiative in support of the Black experience at Elon.

Faculty and community members spoke of the legacy of grief and terror spawned by ongoing racial inequity and violence. Elon University must address its past and accelerate change for justice and equality, they said.

Sowande’ Mustakeem ’00, author of “Slavery at Sea: Terror, Sex and Sickness in the Middle Passage,” shares her story of loss, triumph and success, since graduating as Elon’s first African & African-American Studies major.