LLCC’s Alpha Epsilon Kappa chapter of Phi Theta Kappa received a $420 grant to support the research stage of their annual Honors in Action (HIA) project. The theme of this cycle of HIA projects is “The Power of Stories,” and LLCC’s AEK chapter has drafted a preliminary research question asking, “How is preservation of local black history related to community formation for younger generations?”

This HIA research question acknowledges our community’s conflicted racial history while focusing on the potential to preserve not only stories of pain and trauma, but on the opportunities to celebrate, move forward, and build community, especially in our community’s younger generations.

LLCC’s chapter was one of only seven PTK chapters in the Illinois Region to receive grants this fall. The grant will assist students serving on the chapter’s project committee as they visit three local museums as part of their research process: the Route History Museum, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum and the Abraham Lincoln Home National Historic Site. Each site was chosen for its ability to shed light on the history of race in our local community. The grant will also provide an honorarium for a speaker to facilitate a workshop for PTK Team Members about the ethics of working with marginalized groups.