Northern Michigan University will honor Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy by hosting events on Monday, Jan. 17, beginning with a march for equality. These events are free and open to the public. Masks are required.
Students, staff and community members participating in the march will gather in a socially distanced group at noon in front of Forest Roberts Theatre. The group will then travel to the Lodge in the Woods Complex for a 12:30 p.m. keynote address and to complete service projects planned by the Center for Student Enrichment (CSE). A lunch of pizza and snacks will follow.
Featured keynote speaker Darnishia Slade of Michigan Tech's Pavlis Honors College will speak at 12:30 p.m. at the Lodge. Slade will vocalize the excellence exhibited by black students attending rural universities, especially in the Upper Peninsula. Darnishia won the inaugural Bayard Rustin Award at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. banquet in January 2019 presented by the National Society of Black Engineers.
Service projects will include writing letters to the Jacobetti Home for Veterans as well as making placemats and valentines for the veterans. Other services include making fleece blankets for the local women's shelter and masks for the Room at the Inn homeless shelter.
Projects hosted at the Lodge with exception of the fleece blankets, can be taken to private locations such as dorms for students who are not comfortable staying in the Lodge. Take-home projects can be dropped off by 3 p.m. at the Lodge or at the CSE office the next day.