International Day

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Big Blue Nation’s International Day celebrates cultural diversity at UK

By Laurel Swanz news@kykernel.com

UK’s Student Activities Board (SAB) and International Center collaborated to host International Day at UK, an event dedicated to embracing the diversity of UK’s international student population, on Monday, Nov. 21.

Home to over 2,000 international students, UK offered the chance to bring unique cultures to life in Gatton Student Center Ballrooms B and C.

International Day at UK consisted of speeches and musical performances from international students, free snacks from around the world, informational booths of various campus communities, cultural attire, a flag ceremony and arts and crafts.

“We know that there’s an international presence here, but I feel like it hasn’t been celebrated as much,” Princess Magor Agbozo, director of multicultural affairs for SAB and a junior from Ghana, said. “So we wanted to give international students that platform to express themselves through food, performance, your outfit – all these different factors.”

The event provided sushi, chips and salsa, nachos and more to attendees. Less than an hour into the event, which over 250 people attended, all the food was gone. International Day at UK hosted many different organizations including the Iranian Student Organization, which had a booth informing attendees of the protests for women’s rights occuring in Iran.

Students working the booth explained the history of sexism in Iran and encouraged attendees to sign a petition for women’s rights. They handed out flyers that read “Sanction oppressors, not the oppressed. Justice for the women of Iran.”

The Iranian Student Organization led a performance of “Baraye” by Shervin Hajipour, a protest song inspired by the death of Mahsa Amini and its aftermath. Students stood on stage holding the Iranian flag and singing while a presentation of Iranian struggles played behind them.

International Day at UK also included performances by members of the Cameroonian Student Organization and the Brazilian Student Organization.

Cameroonian senior computer engineering major Elnoel Akwa delivered a speech about his experiences as an international student and his hope for peace and understanding across nations. He spoke in English, French, Cameroonian Pidgin English and Camfranglais to honor his home country.

“I was up there trying to give a message to everyone in positions of power that from the top to the bottom of the ladder, technically, we are all human,” Akwa said. “Things has to change in the sense that we have to treat one another in a way we expect to be treated.”

Akwa said International Day made him feel closer to Cameroon from 6,000 miles away.

“Often, it’s easy to feel far away from home, and occasions like this are what unite us, bring us together and kind of give us motivation to go forward,” Akwa said. “We are never that far away from home because home is within us and within our community.”

Ana Carolina, a freshman aerospace engineering major from Brazil, sang and played guitar for her country with a World Cup themed song. She said it was to root for Brazil and show its strength, as well as why they are there.

“It’s time to wake up and show the world that we’re not here to play,” Carolina said. “We are here to show our talent.”

Carolina saw International Day as a chance to share Brazilian culture with her peers.

“This event means to me an opportunity to show that I also come from a rich culture, and that I also have a background,” Carolina said. “This is just a new journey but I have much more before it, so it’s a chance to show the world the good things that my country and me has to offer.”

International Day at UK welcomed students that are not of international descent as well, providing them the opportunity to expand their horizons and explore other cultures. They tasted new foods and tried crafts like sand art and henna.

“That’s what this event means to me, to my community especially as an international student, as well as coming together to just celebrate alongside the locals,” Agbozo said. “They can also come and see what international representation we have and kind of celebrate with us.”

Agbozo said that over 90 countries were represented by International Day at UK.

Tofunmi Oyetan, a senior computer engineering major from Nigeria, dressed in Nigerian attire from head-to-toe and said she appreciated the representation.

“I feel seen, heard, represented … and it just provides that warm community,” Oyetan said. “Seeing diversity, everyone in their native attires, it just brought me closer to home basically.”

BRADY SAYLOR | STAFF Students walk and wave flags during International Day on Monday, Nov. 21, 2022, at the Gatton Student Center in Lexington, Kentucky.

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UK under legal pressure for planned removal of Memorial Hall mural

JOEL REPOLEY | STAFF FILE PHOTO Ann O’Hanlon’s 1934 mural located in UK’s Memorial Hall has been the subject of controversy for several years, due to its depictions of people of color. On Nov. 22, president Eli Capilouto announced that it would be removed and relocated.

By Alexis Baker news@kykernel.com

After years of controversy surrounding a mural in Memorial Hall, UK president Capilouto announced the university’s plan to remove and relocate it on Nov. 22.

The mural illustrates segregation of races by showing people of color hunched over working on farmland. Both African American and Native American individuals are represented in the mural.

According to Harriet Fowler, a contributing author for The Kentucky Review, Ann O’Hanlon completed in 1934 for the Public Works of Art Project. The Civil Works Administration funded the Public Works of Art Project, which provided job opportunities for artists to embellish non-federal structures and parks.

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Student protests of this mural date back years. In 2019, the Black Student Advisory Council partnered with the Basic Needs Campaign to conduct a sit-in at the Main Building on campus and demanded that the mural be taken down.

After the case of assault of a UK student in November, Capilouto said in a campus-wide email he is committed to making changes on campus to promote diversity, equity and inclusion. The removal of the mural is included in these changes.

However, moving the mural is a legally complex process.

“We don’t have a specific timeline for removal and relocation as we are in court-ordered mediation with Wendell Berry about that process,” UK spokesperson Jay Blanton told the Kernel in an email. “But we are committed to doing so.”

Berry is a University of Kentucky alumnus and author who has deep-rooted agrarian values, according to the Berry Center website. According to The New York Times, Berry’s lawsuit argues that the mural is a federal project belonging to the people of Kentucky – therefore restricting Capilouto from removing it.

“Mr. Berry said that they are also trying to prevent the potential removal of another work, one by a Black artist, Karyn Olivier, that was commissioned by the university and installed in the same campus building in 2018 in response to the mural,” The New York Times said.

Olivier’s work is in the vestibule of Memorial Hall and is called, “Witness.” Her work took the figures from O’Hanlon’s mural and put them on the goldleafed ceiling.

According to Whitney Hale, a contributor for UK Libraries, Olivier said, “I hope one reading of my use of gold leaf is to elevate the oppressed represented – those who were deemed lowly – to the divine.”

Olivier said her work is reliant on the 1934 mural and removing it would censor hers in the article.

Blanton told the Kernel the plan to move the mural has been in motion since June when the Board of Trustees approved multiple construction projects.

Members of the student body are confident that this is a step in the right direction to increase diversity, equity and inclusion.

“Now that they (UK) are taking the initiative to listen to student responses and take it down, I think it provides some closure,” Tyler Johnson, a senior computer science major, said.

With the imminent removal of the mural, students voiced opinions about how to replace it.

“Representing history, making sure people still know what happened is very important, so maybe using a mural that is uplifting people of color in those communities is a better approach than having that kind of mural,” Brooke Hall, a freshman agricultural and medical biotechnology major, said. “Something that shows the positive side of colored communities and their history.”

While there is an overarching consensus among UK and the surrounding community that the removal is a positive change for the campus, there is still lingering criticism about how the university is responding to the act of racial violence as a whole.

“The law requires that the employer or the organization takes immediate and appropriate action … looking at UK’s response to this issue it looks like they’re on the right track,” Raymond Sexton, the executive director for the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission, said. “Obviously there is still a lot of distrust with the student body.”

Blanton told the Kernel that going forward the university will be forming a committee to recommend what will best fit into the new space.

“We will work to tailor an initiative to meet the needs of our campus and our goals as a diverse and inclusive community,” Blanton said.

ARDEN BARNES | STAFF FILE PHOTO Controversial depictions of Black individuals have led to members of the campus community calling for the mural’s removal.

JOEL REPOLEY | STAFF FILE PHOTO Although the university does not have a finalized plan for removing the mural, spokesperson Jay Blanton said UK is “committed” to the project.