The story of Black History Month began with Carter Woodson — founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History — establishing a Black History Week starting in February 1926. Woodson’s goal was to use history to inspire the Black population to “greater achievements,” and he chose February to encompass the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglas, who played essential roles in shaping Black history. With so much cultural and historical significance, one can only wonder why Black History Month made no noise this year at UTSA.
From volunteer opportunities to exploring historical sites of the Civil Rights Movement, UTSA has been proud to celebrate Black History Month in the last couple of years. However, 2025 seems to be different, as their website appears to be a wasteland in regard to the celebration. This year, they had digital exhibits and collections, a blog article, two basketball games and a food drive.
Furthermore, an article was not published for UTSA Today informing people of the lackluster events the university had planned; in previous years, the articles for the website detailed the events they had for the entire month. Now, Black History Month at UTSA has been reduced to having special virtual backgrounds for people to use throughout February. The audacity of them to have these for use in February only, after hardly doing anything for the entire month, is embarrassing.
It is difficult to answer why UTSA had such an underwhelming celebration and flat-out refused to openly acknowledge the event this year. One might think it has something to do with President Donald Trump’s insistence on getting rid of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs. With schools and many corporations rolling back their DEI policies, it is no surprise people are jumping to this conclusion. To imagine UTSA may be involved in this, as well, is heartbreaking.
Woodson dreamed of providing the public with thoughtful celebrations to make Black history a serious field of study. In the state with the largest Black population in the U.S., UTSA having little to say for the people is embarrassing. Whether or not UTSA chooses to acknowledge Black History Month, it was, and will always be, a month to remember.
