This year, Black History Month turns 100 years old. Student organizations such as Theater for the Culture, Student Government Association, and University Programming Board plan to mark the centennial with a variety of events. 

It began as Negro History Week in 1926 before becoming federally recognized as Black History Month 50 years later in 1976. 

Since their establishment in 2024, Theater for the Culture serves as a space for Black storytellers to showcase their work and tell their stories.

The first event planned by Theater for the Culture is “Reading for the Culture: Black Play Reading Series,” which will occur every Thursday in Feb. at 12:30 p.m. Feb. 5, 12, and 19 on the fourth floor of the library,” according to President and junior physics and theater arts major Gabrielle Stanfield. 

On Feb. 18 there will be an event called “Black Is—?” which, according to Stanfield, is about “exploring and debunking the problems in the industry and providing advice, tips, and tricks to growing your career as a Black storyteller.” 

Artists from all over campus and in any form are welcome to take part in this event. 

TFC will be hosting a Black History showcase in Nunemaker Hall on Thursday, Feb. 26 at 7:30 p.m. 

“We tend to specialize in events that foster more community, teach students about progressing in their careers, and also give them performance opportunities to allow them to showcase what Black history means to them during the month of February,” Stanfield said. 

Regarding the university as a whole, Stanfield believes that while large and important strides are being made, there is still a lot of work to be done. 

“While I still have concerns about the underfunded Black Studies Department and the request to change certain room and organizational names from administration, aiding in the erasure of Black History, I will stay positive in the hopes that Loyola will uphold the Jesuit mission of a just and true campus,” Stanfield said. “There is always room for growth, but I can appreciate the direction we are moving towards.”

Stephanie Ruiz, senior biology major and director of equity and inclusion for SGA is excited to collaborate with Black student organizations to plan events for the month of February. 

“I want to reach out to all of the organizations that represent Black history […] to partner and see if we could do something just to highlight and give a voice to the students on campus,” Stanfield said.  

While not completely sure of what the event will be, whether it is a trivia night or awards ceremony, her main priority is the input of Black student leaders to make the event a collaborative effort between SGA and these organizations. 

She also plans to do a social media spotlight, highlighting a Black student, professor, and organization in order to recognize the work they do on campus.

The equity and inclusion committee hosted events in the past to celebrate Black History Month. This year, Ruiz wants to make the celebration bigger. 

“I feel like sometimes, we do as much as we can to make people be seen on campus but I feel like a lot of students aren’t aware of these organizations so I want to just keep pushing it more,” Ruiz said.

By making the celebration bigger, she hopes to spread the word about the presence of these organizations to student groups like commuters, who may not know much about them or get many chances to interact with them. 

Angel August, a sophomore psychology pre-health major and director of programming for student government, is looking forward to the Black history month themed Wolfpack Wednesday coming up at the end of the month.  

On Feb. 25, the University Programming Board will be hosting Wolfpack Wednesday, where students wearing maroon, gold, or Loyola gear will receive free goodies. At this Wolfpack Wednesday, food will be provided by a Black-owned restaurant and there will also be some Black history facts to engage students. 

While UPB doesn’t have anything currently planned outside of Wolfpack Wednesday, August is definitely looking forward to doing more with Black student organizations. 

“Since right now I don’t really have anything planned for that outside Wolfpack Wednesday, maybe next year I do want to extend that invitation to [Black Student Union] and do a cookout or a movie screening or something,” August said.

Outside of student leadership, students throughout campus are calling for others to get involved and find ways to celebrate Black History Month both on and off campus. 

Junior psychology major Joshua Fletcher recognizes the importance of celebrating Black History Month as a time that people should really sit and reflect. 

“Black History Month is important to me because it gives me a time and a space to really think back to American history and my ancestors, at least in this country. To me, it gives me a good amount of pride to see people who looked like me who were very historically significant,” Fletcher said.

He does wish that for the campus overall, other student organizations besides just Black student organizations celebrated Black History Month and calls for academic departments to do more to recognize the contributions made by Black academics.

“We could talk about historical Black psychologists in the psychology department or historical Black writers in the English department […] I feel like particularly academic departments could definitely do more to celebrate Black History Month,” Fletcher said.

Moving beyond campus, Fletcher wants to see more student involvement in events taking place outside campus and believes that student engagement with Black History Month needs to go farther than just interacting with student organizations and lectures at school. 

“When it comes to students engaging with Black History Month […] I do think a lot more students could make efforts to try to seek Black history events off campus. I feel like that could add a good amount of understanding to get a non-student or a non-academic perspective of Black history,” Fletcher said.