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STUDENT LIFE

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Black History Month
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2025 EVENTS

 

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22

Lunch @ Lepage Presents "The Black Antifascist Tradition" with Dr. Anna Duensing

Noon-1 p.m., SAC 410

Hosted by the Albert Lepage Center for History in the Public Interest; co-sponsored by the Villanova University Department of History

 

SUNDAY, JANUARY 26

Fireside Chat and Book Signing with Dr. Judy Giesberg, Author of Last Seen: The Enduring Search by Formerly Enslaved People to Find Their Lost Families

11 a.m., Mother Bethel AME Church, 419 6th Street, Philadelphia

Hosted by the Albert Lepage Center for History in the Public Interest; co-sponsored by the Villanova University Department of History

 

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5

Lunch @ Lepage Presents "More Than the Peanut: George Washington Carver and the Natural Environment" with Isaac Smith

Noon-1 p.m., SAC 410

Hosted by the Albert Lepage Center for History in the Public Interest


Black History Month Coffee Chat 

2-3 p.m., Corr Hall 115

Hosted by the Office of Belonging and Inclusion

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11

Scholarship @ Villanova: Dr. Glenn Bracey on "The Religion of Whiteness"

4-5:30 p.m., Speakers' Corner, Falvey Library

Hosted by Falvey Library; co-sponsored by the Africana Studies Program, the Office of the Provost, the Department of Political Science, the Department of Sociology and Criminology and the Department of Theology and Religious Studies 

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12

Lunch @ Lepage Presents "Pioneers in Pinstripes: Integrating the Philadelphia Phillies" with Kenny Ayres

Noon-1 p.m., SAC 410

Hosted by the Albert Lepage Center for History in the Public Interest

 

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13

Spotlight Speaker Series: Black History Month 

6 p.m., Bartley Hall, PwC Auditorium

Hosted by Villanova School of Business ODEI; co-sponosred by the Department of Accounting, Office of Residence Life, NABA Inc. and the Association of Latino Professionals for America (ALPFA)

 

What Does it Mean to be Black at Nova? 

6 p.m., Corr Hall 109

Hosted by ACT; co-sponsored by 13%

 

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16

Soul Food Sunday 

6 p.m., O'Dea Lounge

Hosted by Villanova Black Alumni Association; co-sponsored by Posse  

 

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21

Freestyle Friday

Noon-2 p.m., Corr Hall 109

Hosted by the Office of Belonging and Inclusion

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BLACK HISTORY MONTH PROFILE: SISTER CORA MARIE BILLINGS, RSM, '67 CLAS

Sister Cora Marie Billings, RSM, ’67 CLAS has been a member of the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy since 1956 when she desegregated her congregation by becoming the first Black woman to enter a Philadelphia-based religious community. After entering religious life, Sister Cora Marie became the first Black woman religious to teach in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia schools serving in numerous elementary and high schools in the archdiocese. Sister Cora Marie became a founding member of the National Black Sisters Conference in 1968 and remains active in the organization to this day. During a visit to Villanova in 2019, Sister Cora Marie said, “As a Black Catholic and as a woman religious, I have often experienced being either ‘the first’ or ‘the only’ in any given situation.” Sister Cora Marie’s trailblazing ministry continued when she relocated to Richmond, VA in 1981. 

After moving to Richmond, Sister Cora Marie became the first Catholic campus minister at a state university in Virginia when she served as a Campus Minister at Virginia State University. Additionally, Sister Cora Marie served as Deputy Director for the Human Rights Council for the State of Virginia for over two years. She served as the Director of the Office of Black Catholics in the Diocese of Richmond for twenty-five years. Sister Cora Marie became the first Black woman religious in the country to serve as a pastoral coordinator through her fourteen-year ministry at St. Elizabeth Parish in Richmond. Sister Cora Marie has been doing human relations and anti-racism work since 1968 and serves on her community’s anti-racism team.

Villanova honored Sister Cora Marie by awarding her an honorary doctorate in 2019. The Office for Mission and Ministry currently offers the Sister Cora Marie Billings, RSM, ‘67 Graduate Resident Minister Fellowship to a lay Black Catholic who wants to continue Sister Cora Marie’s vocation of extraordinary service to the Catholic Church and the People of God.