February is Black History Month, an annual commemoration to the contributions of black Americans, celebrated since its inception as "Negro History Week" in 1926 by Dr. Carter G. Woodson.

This week, Xavier’s Black Student Association will honor those who’ve contributed to the development of Black History Month with a series of programs ranging from dialogues to displays to social outings, entitled "Black History Week: Rekindling the Spirit."

At 7 p.m. on Monday, Jane Elliot will speak in Cintas Center’s Schiff Family Conference Center, a special event for Black History Month.

Elliott, a former Iowa elementary school teacher, is most famous for her classroom experiment, "The Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes Project," a class exercise intended to illustrate the abhorrent effects of racial prejudice and institutionalized discrimination.

Jackie Brookner, a prominent bio-sculptor, lectured in the Schiff Family Conference Center last Sunday.

Brookner integrates plants and statues to form works of art that help prairie and wetland environments. In her lecture, she described her work and its impact.

Brookner talked about her current project, the "Laughing Brook," which she is working on for the Mill Creek Restoration Project.