UCF's Black Caucus wants to recognize Juneteenth - again

Sen. Autumn Johnson (middle right) updates the Senate on the Black Caucus’ initiatives at the weekly student Senate meeting Thursday at the Charge On Chamber. 




For the third consecutive year, UCF Student Government’s Black Caucus drafted and submitted a resolution that, if passed Nov. 28, would urge the provost and president to add Juneteenth to the university’s academic calendar. 

UCF’s 55th Student Senate unanimously approved a resolution in June 2023 to urge the provost to recognize the holiday, but they never got a response, Autumn Johnson, student senator, said.

“There was a no, I just don’t know whose no it was,” Johnson said. 

Johnson, senior health sciences major, is in charge of rallying support for the resolution from faculty and students, including speaking to student organizations on campus. Johnson emailed a survey to every student involved with an RSO asking if they would be in favor of UCF recognizing Juneteenth and if they would appreciate the day off. 

Of the 667 responses, 588 chose “yes” and 79 chose “no” to the prompt. Included was an optional written-response portion, which students could submit anonymously.

“Honestly, making it a school holiday would show that UCF values and respects the contributions and history of Black communities, making our campus feel more inclusive and welcoming,” one student wrote.

Another student added: “We should honor the end of systematic slavery in the United States.”

Juneteenth commemorates when the last slaves in America were thought to have learned about emancipation June 19, 1865, when Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, to inform enslaved African Americans that they were free nearly two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President Abraham Lincoln, according to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

In 2021, Juneteenth was established as a national holiday by President Joe Biden, the first national holiday established since Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday in 1983, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Colleges across Florida recognize Juneteenth and cancel classes on the day, shown by the academic calendars of the University of South Floridathe University of FloridaFlorida State Universitythe University of North Florida and Florida A&M University.  

Johnson said she was initially surprised that UCF doesn’t acknowledge Juneteenth, but isn’t now because the holiday hasn’t been recognized by the state government.

“After it became a federal holiday, I did kind of expect us to do it, but then once Gov. DeSantis was like, ‘It’s not that big of a deal,'” Johnson said. “I kind of wasn’t surprised.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a proclamation in 2020 calling upon Floridians to honor Juneteenth but hasn’t signed a resolution relating to the holiday since, according to the Tallahassee Democrat. Florida observes holidays celebrating the birthdays of Confederate leaders and Confederate Memorial Day, according to Florida statutes‘ list of legal holidays.

UCF may be cautious about recognizing Juneteenth on its academic calendar because of the rollbacks on diversity, equity and inclusion in Florida, said Dr. Darryl Gordon, president of the UCF Black Faculty and Staff Association. 

In January, the Florida State Board of Education passed a rule permanently prohibiting DEI programs and restricting the use of public funds in the Florida College System, according to a press release.

“There’s been a huge movement of rolling back a lot of the protections and a lot of the advocacy and celebration for those particular things but also a rollback in the education of certain histories,” Gordon said.

Gordon referenced Dr. Andrea Guzmán, whose title changed from UCF’s vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion to vice president of access and community engagement, and said the University of Florida eliminated all of its diversity and inclusion staff in March.

“We really are facing a very uncertain future in terms of what can be taught, what people can say without fear of retribution,” Dr. Jennifer Sandoval, associate professor of communication, said in a Zoom interview.

A current plaintiff in the “Stop W.O.K.E Act” lawsuit, Sandoval said that the current state of academic freedom in Florida is likely a contributing factor in UCF’s hesitancy to acknowledge the national holiday.

“It is a pretty unhinged moment to see the government becoming involved in speech at that level,” Sandoval said.

Dr. Larry Walker, academic program coordinator in the Department of Educational Leadership and Higher Education, said he thinks a resolution is important, but that the federal government acknowledging the holiday while Florida does not puts the university in a difficult situation because it has to follow state laws.

“Certainly putting it on the calendar and acknowledging it as a holiday, at a minimum, I don’t think that would be a problem, but we live in a complicated world today,” Walker said in a phone interview. “Things like that a couple of years ago wouldn’t be controversial at all, are now controversial.”

While most students surveyed were in favor of the resolution, almost 12% answered that they would not be. A comment in Johnson’s survey expressed that the observance of Juneteenth would be problematic. 

“This observance directly goes against the ‘academic excellence’ that UCF stands for,” a student wrote. “Suspending classes for the sake of observing a ‘holiday’ that stands as a reminder to those who have been affected by the harsh treatment and intellectual undermining as slaves would just further the PROBLEM, not the SOLUTION.”

Recognizing Juneteenth requires coming to grips with the United States’ history, challenging history and addressing the country’s problems, Walker said.

“I commend students for advocating for this to be placed on the calendar because, in a sense, it acknowledges the challenges this country has encountered,” Walker said. “And the other thing is: What is the counter to not acknowledging it?”

A Philadelphia native, Walker said he has been to the Liberty Bell and Constitution Hall more times than he can count and sees a contradiction between 1776 and the enslavement of African Americans.

“During that time, enslaved Africans were not free, and that’s just a fact – that’s U.S. history,” Walker said. “How do you understand and recognize that contradiction? You have to discuss these kinds of contradictions because African Americans have thought and pondered for generations about these contradictions.”

UCF acknowledges two holidays on its academic calendar for the summer term: Memorial Day and Independence Day, according to UCF’s summer 2025 calendar. Brianna Phillips, Black Student Union membership director, doesn’t think Independence Day properly represents the Black community as much as Juneteenth does.

“Fourth of July is Independence Day, but if you look at history – no, it’s not,” Phillips said. “For some of America, that’s Independence Day, but for a lot of us, it’s not because it has nothing to do with us.”

Phillips, senior political science major, said that people don’t want to acknowledge all aspects of Black history and instead try to gloss over the hardships.

“They just want to acknowledge slavery was bad, then we had reconstruction, then we had civil rights and now we’re all equal,” Phillips said. “We’re still not equal. I don’t think we ever will be in this country because of the roots of the country is slavery.” 

Johnson said this time around the Black Caucus is gaining support from all staff/faculty associations to gain better perspective from other minority groups on campus. Johnson asked the UCF PRIDE and Latino Faculty and Staff Associations to write letters of support for the resolution, she said.

“I think it’s really important that we recognize it because UCF is such a diverse campus,” Jaci Lim, Asian Pacific Islander American Caucus chair, said. “I thought it was; I was looking at my calendar when I was a freshman and I was like, ‘We don’t recognize this?'”

Johnson plans to have students receive the day off June 19 and not interfere with hourly workers’ pay, she said. In the survey comments, however, some students worried about how class schedules would be affected by the extra day off.

“Summer classes are condensed enough, losing a day could make them worse,” a student wrote in a comment.

“Never heard of it, doesn’t seem worth potentially pushing back classes to end later due to extra break,” another student added about the holiday. 

Johnson, who takes summer classes, doesn’t think that classes will be moved, she said. The main concern is the amount of time professors have to prepare their courses, she said.

“It’s only going to affect one semester, so they’ll change the start date,” Johnson said. “Either they’ll change it by one, or they may not change it at all, and then the teachers will adjust accordingly.”

Johnson said that the university’s provost, Dr. Michael D. Johnson, said it takes three to five years in advance to make changes to the school’s academic calendar. Johnson doesn’t expect Juneteenth to be acknowledged next year, but hopes to have it for summer 2026, she said.

“I think that’s the main reason why I’m trying to garner as much support as possible, because I’m essentially asking them to change it for next year,” Johnson said. “I don’t really want to wait, and I don’t think we should wait three to five years.”

Assuming that the resolution passes all three readings by the Senate Nov. 28 without having to be changed or remanded, Johnson said, she would present it to the provost in the second week of the spring semester. 

If nothing comes from a resolution again, Phillips said she’d be disappointed but not surprised.

“Change is hard for people,” Phillips said. “Sometimes it doesn’t hit as hard because it has nothing to do with you. If it’s not your history, if it’s not your people, your culture, it’s kind of like – what’s the point?”