As Black History Month begins, academic colleges and student organizations at Penn State are offering a multitude of events to celebrate all month long.

University Park and nine other Commonwealth Campuses across the state will host events, according to Penn State.

At University Park, events like the Selma March incentive will run the entirety of February. The annual event is sponsored by Campus Recreation and encourages people to get out and run, bike, or walk 54 miles over the course of the month to represent the length of the marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in March 1965.

Other events over the course of the month will include keynote speakers like Nikolas Gaines, Myron Floyd, Johnathan Jones, and other prominent members of the Black community. Those will take place via Zoom.

The Eberly College of Science, the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, and Stuckeman School in the College of Arts and Architecture will host events over the course of the month, along with other organizations on campus.

Some events will take place after February, like the essay contest sponsored by the Center for Democratic Deliberation in the College of the Liberal Arts. The person who best analyzes speeches, writings, and other artifacts from the Civil Rights era may be awarded more than $1,000 worth of prizes.

Penn State Abington, Altoona, Berks, Dickinson, Dubois, Fayette, Harrisburg, Lehigh-Valley, and Wilkes-Barre are all hosting events for Black History Month, too.

For more information on all the events and a full schedule, make sure to visit Penn State’s official website to learn more.