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QUEENSBURY, New York (June 17, 2024) — ���Ĵ�ý commemorates Juneteenth by welcoming esteemed speaker Roy V. Hill, who will deliver “Faith, family and freedom” at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, June 20, in Northwest Bay Conference Center, Adirondack Hall.

“To help us respect Juneteenth and its meaning, we are honored to have on campus the venerable Roy Hill, a truly outstanding individual with deep knowledge and historical legacy,” said Cornelius Gilbert, Ph.D., chief diversity officer at ���Ĵ�ý. “Mr. Hill will speak on essential elements of Black history and culture.”

Hill had a long career at such prestigious organizations as Washington University, Dartmouth College, Brown University, Robert Russa Moton Memorial Institute, National Council of Negro Women and National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO).

He was hired in 1987 by University of Vermont, and has lived in Vermont since. There, he served as a member of the United Church of Christ National Executive Council, as president of Vermont Ecumenical Council, deacon for College Street Congregational church and a devotional leader for the Vermont Legislature. He is a minister in Presence Leader in Saint Albans, Vermont, and a founding member and deacon for New Alpha Missionary Baptist Church, the only Vermont Baptist church that worships in an African-American tradition.

Juneteenth marks June 19, 1865, when, nearly three years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, slaves in Texas — the western-most state at the time — learned of their freedom. Juneteenth — the name a contraction of “June” and “Nineteenth” — was signed into law as a national holiday in 2021.

This free event is sponsored by ���Ĵ�ý’s Office of the Chief Diversity Officer and Educational Opportunity Program (EOP). 

The public is welcome to attend. A light soul food lunch from Allie B's Cozy Kitchen is included.