Northwest to honor legacy of MLK during annual Celebration Week activities

Northwest Missouri State University’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion will commemorate the work of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with its annual Celebration Week, beginning Friday, January 17, and concluding Friday, January 25.

The activities, which are free and open to the public, launched with Northwest’s annual Peace Brunch from noon to 2 pm, Friday, January 17 in the JW Jones Student Union Ballroom. The brunch honored King’s life and legacy and featured Northwest alumnus Dr. Tyrone Bates Jr. as the keynote speaker.

The brunch also included the presentation of Northwest’s Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion Awards, which honor faculty and staff members who have demonstrated a longstanding commitment to King’s principles and ideals of freedom, equality, justice, liberty, individuality and respect while furthering Northwest’s commitment to those principles and ideals.

The Celebration Week activities continue with a lecture, “Don’t let the sun set on you! The Hidden History of Sundown Towns,” noon to 1 pm, Tuesday, January 21, Student Union Meeting Room B; documentary screening, “King In the Wilderness,” noon to 2 pm, Friday, January 25, Student Union Meeting Room D and a school supply drive for East High School in Kansas City, January 17-25, in the office of diversity and inclusion, Student Union.

In observance of the holiday, Northwest will not have classes on Monday, January 20, and all university offices are closed.