Throughout Black History Month the Rock County campus of UW-Whitewater held a three-week long reading of the graphic novel “Kindred” by Octavia E. Butler. The reading was organized by Nathaniel Maddux, the inclusivity coordinator of Rock County’s College of Integrated Studies.

“It deserves more than a month,” Maddux said of the importance of Black history.

Maddux wanted to do something special to mark Black History Month. So, the inclusive excellence committee came up with the idea of a book reading.

They chose a sci-fi graphic novel to have a general appeal to students while also teaching them the history of many minority groups that helped make the United States the country it is today. 

Despite the constraints that they had of just three weeks, according to Maddux it turned out a success. The event helped lay a blueprint not only for Black History Month, but also other organizations located on the Rock County campus.

Another incentive that gave students to participate in the reading was adding a quiz with an opportunity to win prizes. When students answer the question, they are entered into a raffle for an opportunity to win a bag full of “swag items” according to library assistant Autumn Oakey.

Oakey was involved in a similar event for autism acceptance the previous year, where they held a film screening. The plans for these types of events don’t stop here.

“We are thinking of doing something for Women’s History Month next month, but it’s hard because we all have other things going on,” Oakey said.

While there are plans to do a similar event for Women’s History Month, there is a challenge of the time for it. Maddox is optimistic that this reading can inspire other clubs and organizations in the campus to do a similar event for their causes and goals.

While unsure that could happen, especially with the small size of the campus, the students overall feeling is positive towards the events that highlight the history of important people in our society.