Empire State University’s annual Juneteenth event is a success

(NEW YORK, NY — JUNE 18, 2024) More than 100 people attended SUNY Empire’s Juneteenth celebration on June 15, 2024.

The event was held at 4 Park Ave., the university’s Manhattan location, and featured a talk by Professor Emeritus Joe Washington and a musical performance by Regi Ransdell and the Rhythm Rebels.

The event attracted students, faculty, staff, and alumni. “Everyone had a great time,” David Fullard, president of the Black Male Initiative, said. “The talk by Joe was exceptional and the music by Regi was so wonderful some people shed tears.”

Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the end of slavery in the U.S. On June 19, 1865, union soldiers led by Major General Gordon Granger landed at Galveston, TX with news that the civil war had ended and that all enslaved people were now free.