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Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Updated: Michigan Tech, NMU, Finlandia to commemorate Martin Luther King Day with special events

Michigan Tech University will commemorate Martin Luther King Day on Monday, Jan. 18, with a banquet and readings in local schools. Northern Michigan University will honor King with a March for Equality, presentations and service projects. Finlandia students will volunteer for community service. (Photo courtesy Michigan Tech Center for Diversity and Inclusion)

HOUGHTON, MARQUETTE --  While university classes are cancelled for Martin Luther King Day -- the federal holiday marking King’s birthday -- on Monday, Jan. 18, Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan universities will hold community events, including guest speakers, honoring the late civil rights leader. Finlandia students will volunteer for community service and attend an educational panel.

Michigan Tech to sponsor school readings, MLK Banquet

During the school day (9 a.m. to 3 p.m.) on Monday, Jan. 18, Michigan Tech students, faculty, staff and community members will read books about the life and legacy of Dr. King to local school children. Houghton Elementary, Barkell Elemetary (Hancock) and TR Davis Elementary (Dollar Bay) are participating. 

Michigan Tech's 27th Annual MLK Banquet will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Memorial Union Ball Room. The event, open to the public with free reservations, features a buffet dinner, musical performances from Tech's Momentum Jazz band, spoken word poetry and a keynote address from William P. Jones, professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of the books The March on Washington: Jobs, Freedom and the Forgotten History of Civil Rights and The Tribe of Black Ulysses: African American Lumber Workers in the Jim Crow South.
 

Following the banquet, from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the MUB Ballroom, there will be "Interfaith Insights and Prayers for a Beloved Community." The public is invited to join a group reading of different interfaith passages of peace. The event is held by the Cooperative Campus Ministry.

Tickets for the banquet are free and available by making an online reservation here.

NMU to mark MLK Day with March for Equality, service projects, more ...

At Northern Michigan University (NMU) in Marquette on Monday, Jan. 18,  an MLK March for Equality will begin at noon at the Payne/Halverson lobby and proceed to the Peter White Lounge of the University Center, where there will be food and speakers addressing race and diversity. Following the presentations, participants will engage in service projects, including book readings at the U.P. Children’s Museum and volunteering at the Salvation Army. In the Peter White Lounge, some will make blankets and knitted items that will be distributed to community organizations such as the Women’s Center, Harbor House and Room at the Inn. Others will make cards for veterans.

Author and motivational speaker Antoine Moss, known as the "Man of Inspiration," will deliver the keynote presentation at NMU at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 21, in the Cadillac/Brule Rooms of the University Center. Admission is free. Moss will address "Three Steps to Becoming Unstoppable with Your Purpose and Mission in Life." He will combine his passion and personal stories with the dreams and goals set forth by Martin Luther King Jr. Moss is the author of Learn to Intern CEO Style, based on his professional experience from internships with NASA, the FBI and the U.S. Congress. More recently, he partnered with Les Brown, George Fraser and other influential leaders to write an Amazon No. 1 bestseller, Mission Unstoppable: Extraordinary Stories of Failure’s Blessings.

NMU’s 20th annual Drag Show will culminate the week of equality at 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 22, in Vandament Arena. Admission is free for NMU students and $5 for others. There is no reserved seating. NMU’s revitalized student group, OUTlook, will host the event.

For more information, contact the NMU Multicultural Education and Resource Center at 906-227-1554, or the NMU Volunteer Center at 906-227-2466.


Update: Finlandia students to offer community service on MLK Day

On Monday, Jan. 18, Finlandia University students will not have classes; but Finlandia student volunteers will be conducting community service at churches, non-profits, and schools in Hancock, Houghton, Chassell and Calumet. Tasks range from chopping wood for local elders to hanging elementary student art displays.

After an 11 a.m. brunch in the Finlandia Café, at noon students will board buses that will take them to various community service sites. They will return to campus for a snack in the Finnish American Heritage Center at 2:45 p.m., followed at 3 p.m. by an educational panel featuring six Finlandia faculty members who will examine the impact of Martin Luther King, Jr., through history, philosophy, religion, art, and literature.

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