Auburn University will hold its annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Week with multiple events from Jan. 21-26 of 2019.
Events will kick off on Jan. 21 with the MLK Jr. breakfast that occurs each year in The Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center. Quinton Ross, Alabama State University president, will be the keynote speaker for this staple event.
Ross has served on the Alabama senate for 15 years, which included serving as the first Senate minority leader, and he has received a number of professional awards.
Registration for the breakfast is $35 per person.
Students can also participate in a day of service in Selma, Alabama, on Monday, Jan. 21, with the Black Student Union and Alternative Student Breaks after registering on AUinvolve.
Monday’s final event will be a visit to the Legacy Museum in the state capital at 2:30 p.m. This trip requires registration and a $20 fee.
Also a part of celebration week, on Tuesday, Jan. 22, the Auburn community and students can participate in a candlelight vigil at 5 p.m. on Thach Concourse.
Following the vigil will be the spring’s first installation of the Critical Conversation Speaker Series, featuring Bryan Stevenson. That event will also be at the hotel.
Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, authored New York Times Bestseller “Just Mercy,” which was also Auburn’s Common Book for 2016-2017.
On Wednesday, Jan. 23, students can join in a Lunch and Learn: The Criminizilation of Poverty, a discussion over lunch in the Student Center Room 2222 at 11:30 p.m. The discussion will be led by Sara Wood, senior outreach paralegal for the Southern Poverty Law Center.
A film screening of “Barry” will play Wednesday evening in the Alumni Center at 6 p.m. to look at the life of Barack Obama.
On Thursday, Jan. 24, Lunch and Learn Panel: The Problem of the Color Line in the 21st Century: Reflections on the Race Relations in American History will be held in Student Center Room 2222 at noon. The event will be led by David Carter, Kelly Kennington, Austin McCoy and Guy Mount.
On Friday, Jan. 25, participants can join in a more interactive exercise in the Student Center Ballroom from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Nonviolent Conflict Reconciliation Training will be led by Ronald Smith. The event is intended to give participants the opportunity to work on building a better community.
The final day of the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Week will be a day of service kicking off in Foy Auditorium at 8 a.m. Service will be put on in both Auburn and Opelika. Participants can register to ensure breakfast and a free T-shirt.
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