African American students at Marshall University and within the community may feel undervalued or unacknowledged, said a representative of Marshall’s newly-formed African American Association. In order to celebrate the accomplishments of these individuals, a Black Excellence Award Ceremony was held Thursday in the Brad D. Smith Foundation Hall.

“We noticed there wasn’t an event that celebrated the excellence of black faculty, staff and students, that actually awarded them, affirmed their black talents and whatnot,” said Nicolas Wright, advisor of the African American Association.

The African American Association, which created the Black Excellence Award to celebrate the accomplishments of African Americans at the university and within the community, looked into the empowering things they look for within a person and based the awards on those ideas, Wright said.

The association also sought to recognize black faculty and students on campus for the accomplishments they made throughout the year that may not have been recognized otherwise, said Prisuave Walker, a senior health science major who is executive director of the African American Association.

“This is important, here on campus, because African American students need to be aware that their work is not unnoticed and deserves to be celebrated with the same standards of anyone else,” Walker said.

Getting the ceremony to be an actual event was not easy, said Cedric Gathings, vice president for student affairs, but he said it is now a dream that has become a reality.

“Tonight, is only the beginning for us,” Gathings said.

Having events that recognize the contributions by black people at Marshall, in the community and within the state is black history, said Philip Carter, a Marshall professor of social work.

“Marshall has a role in doing that and so do the blacks at Marshall and others,” Carter said. “They have a responsibility to research, to look deeply at what goes on and to find strengths in what others may not perceive as strengths.”

One reason to celebrate Black History Month is to educate others of the contributions of African Americans in America, said David Harris, one of the founders of Black Alumni Inc.

“We have built a lot of things that we haven’t gotten recognized for,” Harris said. “It is important that we don’t forget the contributions that were made by African Americans.”

African Americans have been marginalized, minimized and omitted from American history, and this has caused great confusion for their community, Harris said.

“It would be my fondest hope that we wouldn’t have to celebrate black history, but to celebrate American history,” Harris said. “I look forward to the day that we are included in those textbooks, giving the justice due to all the things that we have done.”

Tiara Brown can be contacted at [email protected].