Planning committee members of Northwestern’s 2002 Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration said Wednesday they hope to improve attendance at a series of events for this year’s holiday, while admitting the keynote speaker may not possess the star power of years past.
The keynote speaker at this year’s university-wide gathering on Jan. 21, Rev. Samuel “Billy” Kyles, is one of four civil rights leaders coming to the Evanston or Chicago campuses in honor of MLK Day. The others are Benjamin Hooks, former executive director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. at the Chicago campus and Rev. Bernice King, the youngest daughter of Martin Luther King Jr.
Committee member Tamara Kagel, a Speech sophomore, said that although past speakers may have had better name recognition, the overall level of programs will be better this year.
“One of the problems facing us was a limited budget,” Kagel said. “Getting a star like Jesse Jackson limits us for other programs. This year everything offered is really diversified.”
Kyles, the only living eyewitness of Dr. King’s assassination, is an influential member of the civil rights movement and headlines the university’s celebration at 3 p.m. on Jan. 21 at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall.
Class will be canceled at the Evanston campus from 3 to 6 p.m. on Jan. 21 to attract students and faculty to the ceremony, instead of 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. as in years past because Kyles will speak at the Chicago campus that morning.
Barbara O’Keefe, chairwoman of the university’s planning committee, said the event gives the campus a chance to come together.
“This year is particularly an important time for thoughtful reflection about all the different things that Dr. King said about human rights,” said O’Keefe, dean of the School of Speech. “Rev. Kyles is a fantastic choice. It is thrilling for us to have someone speaking who had such a close and deep acquaintance with Dr. King.”
Members of the Associated Student Government’s MLK committee also said they are excited to bring the Rev. Bernice King and the Chicago Children’s Choir to their event Monday Jan. 28. Bernice King is the only one of Martin Luther King Jr.’s children to follow him into the ministry.
Weinberg junior Le’Jamiel Goodall, chairman of the eight-person ASG committee, said he expects Pick-Staiger to be full for the program.
“We are bringing a high-profile and well-known person to the university,” Goodall said. “She is someone who has a lot to offer to students.”
Other events at NU commemorating MLK Day are:
• The Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Forum, featuring former NAACP executive director Benjamin Hooks. 7:30 p.m., Jan. 18, Alice Millar Chapel.
• Candlelight Service with University President Henry Bienen and Larry G. Murphy, professor of the history of Christianity at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, 7:30 p.m., Jan. 20.
• “A More Perfect Union: Advancing American Rights” with Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. at the Law School Atrium, noon Jan. 22.
• “Diversity in Law Firms” Jan. 23 and “Housing the Public: Is Public Housing Meeting its Mandate?” Jan. 24, panel discussions at the Law School’s Rubloff Building.
