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Friday, January 15, 2010

Michigan Tech to honor Martin Luther King, Jr., Jan. 18-23

HOUGHTON -- Michigan Tech is honoring Martin Luther King, Jr., with a week of observances beginning on Monday, Jan. 18.

Nicole White, 2009 treasurer of Michigan Tech's Black Student Association (BSA), recites Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech in front of the Memorial Union Building, opening last year's week of activities in honor of King's birthday. Again this year, Michigan Tech will sponsor a week of activities honoring King, beginning with the famous speech at noon on Monday, Jan. 18, 2010. (Keweenaw Now file photo © 2009 Joshua Jensen, Michigan Tech civil engineering student)

At noon on Monday, mechanical engineering undergraduate Gregory D. Hardy will deliver King’s famous "I Have a Dream" speech on the steps of the Memorial Union. His address will be followed by a candlelight vigil and march to the Rozsa Center, where a reception will be held at 1 p.m.

Everyone is invited. Students from L’Anse High School and Asian students from Finlandia University will also be participating in the activities.

At 7 p.m. on Monday, Michigan Tech's Black Student Association is hosting a viewing of CNN’s "Black in America, Part 2" in Walker 134.

A blood drive will be held
at noon on Wednesday, Jan. 20, at the Van Pelt and Opie Library. This Martin Luther King, Jr., Service Project is being organized by Student Activities, Health Options for a Wellness Lifestyle (HOWL) and the Black Student Association.

Buy your ticket for Saturday's MLK Banquet by Wednesday, Jan. 20. See below.*

A DiversiTEA, "Class and Privilege Among Students," will be held
at 4 p.m. Wednesday in Memorial Union Alumni Lounge A. William Kennedy, director of the Center for Teaching, Learning and Faculty Development, will be the guest speaker.

The student chapters of the National Society of Black Engineers and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers will give a talk
at noon on Thursday, Jan. 21, in the Memorial Union Peninsula Room: "The Lives of Dr. Martin Luther King and Cesar Estrada Chavez." They will discuss parallels between the lives and work of the great civil rights and labor leaders.

At 6 p.m. Thursday, Chet DeFonso, a faculty member from Northern Michigan University, will present "Civil Rights, Then and Now," in Fisher 325. DeFonso’s visit is sponsored by Keweenaw Pride.

On Saturday, Student Activities is inviting volunteers to bake bread for the elderly from 9 a.m. to noon in the Wadsworth Hall dining area. For more information, email communityservice@mtu.edu .

*The week concludes with the annual MLK Banquet, set for
6 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 23, in the Memorial Union Ballroom. The guest speaker is Joe Rogers, former lieutenant governor of Colorado and founder of The Dream Alive Program. Rogers, who came to Tech for the 2005 MLK banquet, is an inspirational speaker who focuses on the heritage of King and other leaders of the civil rights movement. Tickets are $20 and are available from Multicultural Affairs through Wednesday, Jan. 20, by calling 487-2920.

For more information, contact Kevin J. Walker, interim coordinator of African-American student support, at kjwalker@mtu.edu.

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