March 16: 50th Annual Dr. Michael T. Fagin Pan African Conference and Festival

Monday, March 16, 2026
8:00 AM - 6:30 PM
Centennial Student Union Ballroom

Mankato, Minn. – Sen. Bobby Joe Champion, an attorney and elected member of the Minnesota Senate since 2012, will deliver the keynote presentation in Minnesota State University, Mankato’s Dr. Michael T. Fagin Pan African Conference and Festival on Monday, March 16 in the University’s Centennial Student Union Ballroom.

Champion’s keynote lecture is free and open to the public, but RSVPs are required before the day of the conference. Registration information for the conference and the full schedule of events is available online. Free parking will be available in the visitors pay lot (lot 4) across from Centennial Student Union. Dinner space is limited, with eight seats per table (request a seat or table by directly emailing cortez.hollis.2@mnsu.edu.)

The conference opens with a continental breakfast and fireside chat with a higher education leader from 8-9:30 a.m. Among other morning events are a 9:40-10:40 a.m. session titled “Beyond the Badge/Humanizing Law Enforcement” and a 10:45-noon commemoration of the 61^st annual crossing of the Edmond Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, in a march for voting rights.

In the afternoon, a session titled “Mental Health Edition, We Need to Talk?” along with a table talk, award presentations and more will be followed by Champion’s keynote presentation from 4:30-5 p.m. and recognition of Fagin from 5-5:30 p.m. in the Centennial Student Union Ballroom.

For more information about the conference and festival, please contact Cortez Hollis, director of African American Affairs at Minnesota State Mankato, at cortez.hollis.2@mnsu.edu.

The Pan African Conference and Festival is a statewide cultural and humanities festival honoring the stories, artistry, scholarship and lived experiences of the African diaspora in Minnesota. As the longest-running event of its kind in the Midwest, this festival has grown from a one-day academic gathering into a multi-layered celebration of identity, heritage and intergenerational storytelling.

The 50^th anniversary transforms the experience into a full cultural festival featuring live performances, visual art exhibitions, cultural pavilions, youth outreach, humanities workshops and legacy presentations from Minnesota’s most influential scholars and community leaders.

Minnesota State Mankato, a comprehensive university with 15,721 students, is part of the Minnesota State system, which includes 26 colleges and seven universities.