Pan African Conference and Festival celebrates 50 years of inspiring student leaders

MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) - The Pan African Conference and Festival held its 50th anniversary at Minnesota State University, Mankato, on Wednesday at the Centennial Student Union.

Cortez Hollis, MSU’s director of African American and Multicultural Affairs, said a lot has changed over the past 50 years. The event used to be a week long, now it’s only a day, and the campus community has become a lot more welcoming for students of a variety of backgrounds.

Hollis says the purpose of the event to inspire student leadership, cultivate understanding and advance meaningful change remains the same.

The theme of this year’s conference is Building Bridges.

As part of that, the conference held a community march, which included a variety of panels exploring the campus relationship with law enforcement, mental health and the experience of Black Americans and the African Diaspora.

“Goes to show a lot about our university, the standards and policies that we stand by and the fight and the grit to continue in what diversity looks on campus for our students [and] our faculty,” Hollis said.

To celebrate the anniversary, Dr. Michael Fagin, the professor Emeritus who started it, was also brought back by the board for a lifetime achievement award.

Dr. Fagin says he was impressed to see the conference still inspiring young leaders today.

“These courageous, smart young people that want to see the best come out of integration in our society, these were great leaders. It’s just wonderful to know the future of our great country is in the hands of these young people,” Fagin said.

The awards banquet ran from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

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