The UNC academic calendar will officially include Juneteenth as a university holiday starting next year, the school announced in a message to students Tuesday. The announcement follows Juneteenth’s designation as a federal holiday by President Joe Biden last year.

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper earlier this month signed an executive order granting state employees a day of leave to recognize a day of cultural, religious or personal significance, and UNC System President Peter Hans authorized system institutions to provide this paid leave to all qualifying staff and faculty.

“While the university’s academic calendars for this year had been set before these most recent changes, we support the celebration of Juneteenth and recognize that our students, staff and faculty may wish to celebrate the public holiday with their families or friends,” read the announcement from UNC Provost J. Christopher Clemens and Chief Diversity Officer Leah Cox.

Juneteenth, sometimes referred to as Emancipation Day, commemorates the 1865 day when federal troops in Galveston, TX, informed enslaved Black people of their freedom following the end of the Civil War, two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. This year, the holiday falls on a Sunday, with public celebrations taking place on the following Monday, June 20.

Because the UNC academic calendar for this summer has already been finalized, the official designation of Juneteenth as a university holiday won’t go into effect until 2023.

“In accordance with our policy on holidays, and in recognition of the importance of commemorating Juneteenth, we ask that instructors and supervisors be flexible with absences related to the holiday and generous in accommodating those who wish to celebrate it,” the announcement said.

“Going forward, the university will permanently incorporate the celebration of Juneteenth into the academic calendar to avoid this overlap.”

To learn more about the Chapel Hill-Carrboro community’s celebration of Juneteenth, click here.

 

Featured image via UNC

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