Events and Programs

Black History Month Library Display
Monday, February 3 - Friday, February 28 James A. Cannavino Library – 2nd floor 

For the month of February, there will be a library display highlighting Black History Month. The display can be viewed on the 2nd floor of the library for the entire month of February. It will feature books, graphic novels, children's books, and films from the library's collection. (James Cannavino Library).

Gourmet Dining
Tuesday, February 4 @ 4:30 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Student Center Dining Hall

To celebrate Black History Month, Gourmet Dining will be hosting a Black History Month dinner celebration in collaboration with Marist's Black Student Union with a variety of food options and music. *Later in the month, be on the lookout for limited-time offerings at one of their retail locations!

Guest Speaker: Christia Mercer
Friday, February 7 @ 5 p.m.
Dyson 1008

The Office of Academic Affairs will host Christia Mercer. Christia Mercer, the Gustave M. Berne Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University, will visit Marist to receive the Stefanopoulos Philosophical Society Award for her significant contributions to the discipline of philosophy. The award has been presented to prominent philosophers since 2017 for their public-facing work in support of philosophy as a way of life. Mercer will be recognized for both her groundbreaking work in the history of philosophy, and for founding Just Ideas, an educational program in Brooklyn's maximum security Metropolitan Detention Center. At Marist, Mercer will speak directly to her work teaching philosophy in prison, and she will be joined for the discussion by two of her former students, Aisha Elliott and Larry Williams. The mission of the program is to teach some of the most challenging literature at Brooklyn's maximum security detention center, creating space for students to reflect on profound philosophical questions like the role of love and suffering in life and the nature of justice and wisdom. 

The True Black History Museum
Wednesday, February 12 @ 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Cabaret

In collaboration with our office and affinity clubs, we are bringing The True Black History Museum to Marist. The collection takes you through the African American experience, and features over 1000 authentic artifacts, with original documents from historic figures such as Booker T. Washington, Mary McLeod Bethune, George Washington Carver, Rosa Parks, and many other great African Americans.

Guest Speaker: Halim Flowers
Thursday, February 13 @ 7 p.m.
Dyson 1008

The Office of DEI, Academic Affairs, & BSU will host Halim Flowers. After being sentenced to life in prison at the age of 16, Halim Flowers turned to creative expression-poetry, spoken word, painting, and photography to find some sense of peace in a hopeless place, and to feel connected to the outside world.

Guest Speaker: Joelle Weir
Thursday, February 20 @ 5 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Hancock 2023

​Joelle, from the University of Toronto, will present a talk entitled “The Colonization of Nature: Ecological Violence and the History Empire”. The talk seeks to show how she has navigated her journey as a student and climate activist interested in racial injustices. She is a journalism and Environmental Chemistry student at the University of Toronto. She is a Canadian Association of Black Journalists member and has experience working with magazines like The Underground and Kojokin. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she started a podcast, Six-Feet-Apart, highlighting social and political movements. Her other project, A Future for Us, which is the focus of the campus talk, highlights the intersectionality between racism and the environment from an American perspective. It can be found on Spotify. It details how the exclusion of people of color voices is detrimental to the environment and the places we live in. 

*Supporting Departments: Africana Studies Program, History Department, First Year Seminar, and School of Liberal Arts

Guest Speaker: David K. Watts, PhD | Vice President, IBM Z Hybrid Cloud AI, Security and Resilience | IBM Hudson Valley Labs | IBM Infrastructure
Tuesday, February 25 @ 6 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Dyson 1008

The School of Computer Science and Mathematics, along with the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging and the School of Science will host guest speaker David Watts (Vice President, IBM Z Hybrid Cloud AI, Security and Resilience). His presentation will focus on STEM, AI, & DEI.

Sponsors

• Department of Academic Affairs
• School of Computer Science and Mathematics
• School of Liberal Arts
• History Department
• Africana Studies Program
• First Year Seminar
• James Cannavino Library
• Gourmet Dining
• Student Activities
• Black Student Union
• Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion