Special Event Calendar

Black History Month

The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders is proud to celebrate Black History Month in February. The public is invited to a series of four free events:

• The month of February will kick off with a Black History Month flag raising ceremony in front of the Union County Courthouse in Elizabeth at noon on Saturday, February 1^st.
• On Monday, February 3^rd, a production of A Langston Hughes Song Revival will be shown at UCPAC’s Hamilton Stage located at 360 Hamilton Street in Rahway. Learn more / Register
• On Saturday, February 8^th, The Freeholder Board will present the Chester Holmes award before the production of Raisin: A Musical at UCPAC’s Hamilton Stage in Rahway from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. This is a musical adaptation of the Lorraine Hansberry play A Raisin in the Sun. Call the UCPAC box office for ticket information at 732-499-8226.
• On Monday, February 10^th, at noon the Freeholder Board will recognize the 400^th anniversary of the transatlantic slave trade and its reverberations in our lives today with a free educational “Lunch and Learn” event. This event will take place in the Freeholder meeting room on the 6^th floor in the Union County administration building in Elizabeth. For more information, please email Nathalie Hernandez at nahernandez@ucnj.org. 

UCPO, Kean University hosting “21-21” forum on campus sexual violence

On Monday, January 13, 2020, beginning at 6:00 p.m., the Union County Prosecutor’s Office is hosting a public forum at Kean University on the topic of campus sexual violence. The forum will be held in Room 106 of the Maxine and Jack Lane Center for Academic Success (CAS) on the main campus of Kean University in Union. Admission is free, and parking will be available on site.

The event will be presided over by acting Union County Prosecutor Lyndsay V. Ruotolo, who will moderate a discussion with a panel of experts, active in addressing the serious problem of campus sexual violence. Panel participants will include Prosecutor’s Office Chief of Detectives Patricia Gusmano, Special Victims Unit Supervisor and Union County Assistant Prosecutor Caroline Lawlor, Special Victims Unit Sgt. Sofia Santos, Union County Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) and Forensic Nurse Examiner (FNE) Coordinator Dorothy DiFabio, and New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault Assistant Director Robert Baran.

According to Ruotolo, the event is intended to raise public awareness both as to the shocking extent of the problem and of the many services available to the survivors of sexual violence. The Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN) has reported that 11.2 percent of all college students nationwide experience some form of sexual assault, including 23.1 percent of female undergraduates, with those of ages 18-24 being at triple the national-average risk.

The meeting is the eighth in a series of events hosted by the Prosecutor’s Office as part of the 21-County, 21st Century Community Policing Project, launched by New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal in April 2018.

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Upcoming events from the Office of LGBTQ Affairs

Cultural Events Calendar

Upcoming Volunteer Opportunities and Community Events

The Office of Community Engagement & Diversity of the County of Union is located within the Department of Economic Development. If you have any questions regarding requesting volunteer services or partnering up with our Office for events, please contact Nathalie Hernandez at 908-527-4880 nahernandez@ucnj.org