National Day of Racial Healing Observed at SUNY Plattsburgh Jan. 20
SUNY Plattsburgh will play host to the local 2026 National Day of Racial Healing commemoration Tuesday, Jan. 20 from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Angell College Center and via Zoom.
“As we embrace this new year of 2026 and approach the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, let us remember all that Dr. King represented,” said Dr. David Fryson, interim vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion. “Admittedly, we are in difficult, disappointing and perilous times in the area of racial justice. However, Dr. King once said, ‘We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope.’ It is important that we never lose infinite hope.”
The morning starts with refreshments and info tables in the Warren Ballrooms, second floor of the ACC, at 9:30 a.m. followed by a 10 a.m. keynote address with Fryson speaking on, “How We Heal.”
At 11 a.m., concurrent sessions begin with “Understanding Your Trauma Story,” featuring Jacqueline Madison, in the Alumni Conference Room, and “No Hate NYS: Hate and Bias Prevention in New York,” with Ron Zaachi, senior director of the New York State Hate and Bias Prevention Unit, in the Cardinal Lounge.
Lunch and round-table discussion begins at noon in the Warren Ballrooms where participants can join the Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation team and other community members in small discussion groups. Topics will be displayed at each table.
At 1 p.m., Mike Thompson, special projects coordinator in the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Dr. Michelle Bonati, associate professor and co-chair in education, will present “Leading Healing Discussions: Utilizing the TRHT Circle Methodology” in the ballrooms.
Concurrent sessions again pick up with a racial healing circle in the HUB, first floor of the ACC, and a virtual healing circle with Thompson and Bridget Haina, associate professor in communication studies, facilitating.
Final remarks begin at 3 p.m. in the ballrooms.
“Infinite hope is the vehicle that we must utilize to achieve the ultimate goal of racial healing,” Fryson said. “The National Day of Racial Healing is designed to inspire the participants to develop and sustain hope in the midst of the challenges that we face as a society.”
Zoom link can be found at: https://plattsburgh.zoom.us/j/82870580473?jst=2. For a full schedule, visit https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wKJIvqCjDeyBBfapjtCK8aVwa83hlzATxjnqlciD58s/edit?tab=t.0.
For more information, email [email protected] or call 518-564-5410.
— By Associate Director of Communications Gerianne Downs
