Gallaudet University Recognizes Juneteenth as Annual Holiday

I am pleased to announce that the Executive Leadership Team is recognizing Juneteenth as an annual holiday. The University and Clerc Center will be closed this Friday, June 19, and will be closed every year on June 19 going forward.

Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States.

On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers led by Major General Gordon Granger landed at Galveston, Texas with the news that the Civil War ended and enslaved peoples were now free. This was more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.

Today, Juneteenth is a recognition of the promise of emancipation and the long difficult road that African Americans have traveled — a journey that continues to this day.

The Administration and Operations Manual will be updated to reflect the addition of June 19 to our annual holiday calendar. The summer session academic calendar also will be revised.

Sincerely,

Dominic N. Lacy
Chief Operating Officer