To the Virginia Tech community,

Tomorrow marks the second official observance of Juneteenth as a holiday in Virginia.  As we announced earlier this year, the university will be closed in recognition of this important event in our nation’s history. June 19th is celebrated as the day when the last enslaved Americans in the former Confederate States learned that they had been freed by the Emancipation Proclamation, which had been signed more than two years earlier.

We encourage you to learn more about the significance of June 19th, and how it is observed with family and friends as a celebration of freedom.  More information is available in this VTx story. And we hope you take this opportunity to celebrate the principles of freedom, diversity, and inclusion that are so important to our university community and InclusiveVT, our institutional and individual commitment to Ut Prosim (That I May Serve) in the spirit of community, diversity, and excellence.

Happy Juneteenth!

Tim Sands,
President

Menah Pratt-Clarke,
Vice President for Strategic Affairs and Diversity

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