Thursday, September 30, 2021
New university holiday
Abby Cage
Students Kyron Sanders, Blayke Gilmore and Madissen Davidson.
Willistean Bennett Staff Reporter
Texas. This was two month after the Civil War ended. The day is now recognized as time to remember African Americans’ Independence from slavery. Juneteenth for some Oklahoma Over 150 years later, on June 17, State students is not only a celebration, 2021, President Joe Biden signed the but also a stepping stone. Juneteenth National Independence Day On Sept. 14, Oklahoma State ofAct, making the day a federal holiday. ficials added Juneteenth as an official For some students, like Jana Haruniversity holiday at a faculty council ris, an OSU student majoring in applied meeting. exercise science, this day becoming an While the Emancipation Proclaofficial holiday is overdue. “I was happy about Juneteenth mation took effect in 1863, it could not be enacted in states under federal conbecoming a holiday,” Harris said. “I trol. Juneteenth marks the day when an thought, finally it’s happening.” executive decree on June 19, 1865, freed Like Harris, Kyle Kentner, an more than 250,000 enslaved people in OSU student majoring in computer sci-
ence, said making this day a holiday is behind schedule. Juneteenth is the oldest known U.S. celebration recognizing the ending of slavery, according to the U.S. National Park Service. He said Juneteeth is the day when the whole nation became free and is an important part of history. “It (Juneteenth) means sort of, like, the unification of the whole nation,” Kentner said. “Juneteenth is the rebirth of the United States and a step closer to the idea of everyone being free.” Juneteenth is a federal holiday that is not yet recognized on a state level in Oklahoma as a paid holiday. Although
this year’s Juneteenth was on a Saturday, some federal offices observed the national holiday on Friday, June 18, 2021, for pay and leave purposes. Some federal employees such as workers at the Tinker Air Force Base did not go to work that Friday. On June 21, OSU’s main campus in Stillwater, OSU Oklahoma City and OSU Tulsa were closed in honor of Juneteenth. No in-person or online classes were held and staff was given administrative leave for the day, according to a statement by Burn Hargis, the former OSU president.
Color of Dreams Ellen Slater Lifestyle Editor
The Color of Dreams by Rafael Corzo is the current most exhibit to make its way to campus. Oklahoma State’s Gardiner Gallery of Art is going to house the exhibit of the New York based artist. The exhibit will make its stride at OSU from Sept. 23 to Oct. 29. The exhibit kicked off last week with an opening reception, a talk from the artist and a workshop. “This exhibition presents a range of works that illuminate Corzo’s holistic process,” a statement from the gallery said. The artist’s pieces available to see include Beautiful Cosmic Soul, Star Seeds, The Dual Dream That Follow Freedom, and the SuperCluster Roza-
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gante. The artist Corzo is currently a Tulsa Artist Fellow but is based in New York. He is originally from Mexico City, Mexico. “His works manifests as a lucid reverie, connecting both conscious and unconscious states through an array of mediums including ceramics, metal wire, plaster, fluorescent pebbles, and projected digital animation,” the statement said. “Corzo is actively seeking understanding of lucid dreaming, astral projection, remote viewing, meditation, visualization, and the full awakening and potential of the pineal gland or third eye.” The Gardiner Gallery of Art is located in the Barlett Center on OSU’s campus. To learn about exhibitions similar to this one in the future and stay in the loop with OSU art, art.okstate.edu.
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Sarah Briscoe