University of Evansville to Celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Evansville, IN (12/08/2020) — The University of Evansville (UE) will host a celebration for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on January 18, 2021. The annual event will be held in a virtual format this year to accommodate COVID-19 guidelines. Each activity will be available online, and the event is free and open to the public. To attend, please visit evansville.edu/cdei for the event's Zoom links. The 2021 theme is "Our Time is Now" and highlights one of King's famous quotes, "The time is always right to do what is right."

The schedule of events is available below.

Symbolic March - January 1-18, 2021

To commemorate the 54-mile Civil Rights March of 1965, UE will hold a virtual symbolic march. Between the dates of January 1-18, participants can log miles online through walking, running, biking, or swimming. At 11:00 a.m. on the day of the celebration, UE encourages participants to complete the 54th mile together.

While there is no registration fee, individuals can make donations toward positive social change at uealumnionline.com/MLKDay2021. All proceeds will go directly towards UE's Zerah Priestly Carter Scholarship and the Center for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Virtual Celebration - 11:45 a.m.

The celebration will culminate with the 54-mile march and kick-off the rest of the activities for the day. Speakers will include Christopher M. Pietruszkiewicz, president of UE; Rob Shelby, PhD, chief diversity officer; members of the Black Student Union; and lectureship keynote speaker Karith Foster.

Local Leaders Panel Discussion - 2:00 p.m.

The discussion will include leaders from the Evansville community. The panel will be led by Melissa Moore, a UE alumna and secretary for the Legal Aid Society Board of Vanderburgh County.

Lectureship - 7:00 p.m.

Each year, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Lectureship is made possible by the generous support of William G. and Rose M. Mays.

The 2021 lectureship will feature keynote speaker Karith Foster. For nearly two decades, the speaker, humorist, and author has created a seismic shift in mindsets by addressing issues of free expression, diversity, and inclusion. Foster is known as the visionary behind "Inversity", a philosophy and methodology intentionally designed to revolutionize and transform the way society addresses issues of diversity and leadership. A nationally renowned public speaker, Foster has presented at the United Nations and to executives of the Chamber of Commerce C100, as well as Harvard, Stanford and other organizations.