Why we honor Juneteenth

On Wednesday, Portland State will close its campus to allow the entire community a day to reflect on and honor Juneteenth. It’s a relatively new tradition for PSU and many other organizations who choose to celebrate the holiday, but the traditions of the day itself are more than a century old.

The state and federal holiday marks June 19, 1865, when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to free the remaining enslaved people in the U.S — two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Even though it came more than two years after the fact, Juneteenth is the oldest holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.

A much more significant delay kept Juneteenth celebrations off of official calendars — it became a federal, state and Portland State University holiday in 2021.  

I hope we can collectively use the holiday celebration to reaffirm our commitment to engage in the learning, conversation and dedication to create a campus that honors our Black students and employees and supports their success — an important aspect of our journey toward becoming a Minority Serving Institution that truly serves.

The recent event at Smith Memorial Student Union to unveil the stellar mural to honor Jason Washington, who was shot by campus police in 2018, gave me hope that healing is possible and provides a reminder that we must continue to talk to one another and learn from each other to make that progress. I am grateful to the Jason Washington Art Committee for their commitment to this effort. 

Honoring Jason Washington, like establishing Juneteenth as an official holiday, took longer than it should have. I invite you to join me in spending Juneteenth 2024 thinking about how we can smooth the way for healing and expanding justice on our campus in the future.