To commemorate the life and legacy of the late civil and human rights leader the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Northwestern is organizing a series of special events and activities that begins today.
The events, which will take place on both the Evanston and Chicago campuses, will kick off this morning with a speech by Lee Walker at the Law School.
Walker was a participant in the Montgomery Bus Boycott and is the founder and president of the New Coalition for Economic and Social Change, a Chicago think tank geared toward social policy for blacks.
The first event on the Evanston Campus will be the 24th annual MLK memorial forum and candlelight vigil Friday night at Alice Millar Chapel. The event will include a keynote address by Jeffrey Johnson, national director of the Youth, College and Young Adult Division of the NAACP.
On Jan. 20, classes will be canceled from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for a universitywide observance of MLK Day. University offices will either be closed or operated with minimal staffing to ensure participation by staff and students.
“We’ve made a real effort to make sure schools are not scheduling classes at the time of the celebration,” said Loren Ghiglione, dean of the Medill School of Journalism. “There is more of an effort (this year) to involve students.”
The Evanston Campus keynote speaker will be Princeton University Prof. Cornel West. West’s best-known book, “Race Matters,” published in 1993, was a national best-seller. At the same time as West’s speech, musician Stevie Wonder will be speaking at the Chicago Campus about his past efforts to make MLK Day a national holiday.
Dale Vieregge, chairman for Associated Student Government’s MLK Day planning committee, said there has been an extra effort to encourage students’ participation in MLK Day celebrations this year.
ASG has started the Eva Jefferson Civil Rights Program, which will bring 22 high school and middle school students from Evanston and Chicago to the Evanston Campus for MLK Day. These students will be linked with NU student mentors, and in addition to attending the keynote event, they will attend two seminars.
“I think our chief objective has been to expand the celebration and share it with neighboring communities,” said Vieregge, a Weinberg senior.
