Hawaii university to celebrate 'Black Royalty' at 'Black Graduation'
The University of Hawai’i at Mānoa will host its eighth annual 'Black Graduation' primarily for 'Black American/African American/African/Black Diaspora students.'
'This year our theme is ‘Black Royalty’ to celebrate the excellence that our black graduates, students, & community members lead with,' the UH Mānoa Alice Ball Black Grad Instagram posted.
“Black Graduation” will soon be returning to a public university in Mānoa, Hawaii.
On May 10, the Black Student Association at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa (UHM) will host its eighth annual Black Graduation primarily for graduating “Black American/African American/African/Black Diaspora students” at Kuykendall Hall.
Graduate awards will also be gifted to black students, including a “Black Excellence award,” among other honors.
UHM recognizes Black Graduation as a celebration in remembrance of Alice Ball, the first black woman to obtain a master’s degree from the university in 1915.
[RELATED: Segregated graduations separate students by identity]
“This year our theme is ‘Black Royalty’ to celebrate the excellence that our black graduates, students, & community members lead with,” the UH Mānoa Alice Ball Black Grad Instagram account posted on April 28.
The graduation celebration is “open to attend by anyone,” however, the commencement “focuses on celebrating Black American/African American/African Diaspora graduates at UH Mānoa.”
Senior Riley Tobin told Campus Reform that “UHM allowing a segregated graduation is going backwards in their steps to combat racism.”
“Hawaii does a very good job of celebrating each other’s differences and having respect for each other no matter what you look like,” he continued. “[W]e should all come together in one ceremony to celebrate all of our accomplishments in getting a higher level education.”
UHM Director of Communications Daniel Meisenzahl told Campus Reform via email that “there have been no complaints about the Alice Ball graduation.”
Meisenzahl emphasized that the university “is one of the most ethnically diverse universities in the United States and that diversity is celebrated.” The official also noted that “Black students make up less than 1% of UH Mānoa’s student body.”
One of the UHM Black Student Association’s purposes is to “[e]ngage and connect with topics surrounding blackness in Hawaiʻi.”
Campus Reform reached out to the UHM’s Black Grad Instagram account for comment and was promptly blocked.
