UCO VP Appointed to African-American History Commission

The University of Central Oklahoma’s Vice President for Student Affairs Myron Pope, Ed.D., was appointed to serve on the 400 Years of African-American History Commission, a commission established by Congress to coordinate the commemoration of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans to the colonies in 1619.

The commission was formed by Public Law 115-102 which was signed into law in January, 2018. It established a federal commission to coordinate the 400-year anniversary in 2019 of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans to the English colonies at Point Comfort, Virginia, on the site of what is now Fort Monroe National Monument.

“I am honored and humbled to serve in this capacity,” said Pope.

“There is a wealth of history that African Americans have contributed to this country over the past 400 years, some very well recognized and some not as well recognized. The commission will chronicle as much of this history through commemorative events and presentations throughout the country.”

The 14 commission members, many of whom are leaders in the African-American history community, were appointed by U.S. Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke to serve. The secretary received recommendations from governors, members of congress, civil rights and historical organizations and the Smithsonian Institution. Support for the commission will be provided by the National Park Service.

The commission is expected to begin meeting in the coming weeks and will begin to encourage civic, patriotic, historical, educational, artistic, religious, economic, and other organizations to come together to participate in anniversary activities.

(Image of Dr. Pope courtesy UCO)