Diversity efforts add emphasis to MLK Day
NORTHWEST MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY PHOTO
Students from Northwest Missouri State University begin marching from the J.W. Jones Student Union to the Nodaway County Courthouse during last year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day observance. This year’s Northwest MLK Day events come during an academic year during which the university has emphasized its commitment to civil rights through formation of a new Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
In the midst of an academic year in which Northwest Missouri State University has invested significantly in raising the profile of its diversity and inclusion programs — and at a time when the nation as a whole has experienced widespread racial unrest — this Monday’s traditional campus Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration has taken on added significance.
In August, Northwest announced the appointment of Juanita Simmons as its first vice president of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
At the time, Northwest President John Jasinski called Simmons’ hiring “a historic moment in time,” adding that the school’s goal of fostering diversity and acceptance “will not rest on the shoulders of one leader or one division, but rather we all will play a key role in actualizing intercultural competence, civility, and unity for the ages.”
On Monday, and throughout the week, the university will honor King, the assassinated Baptist minister who became a global symbol of the struggle for African American civil rights in the 1960s, during a series of events, including the sixth annual peace brunch to be followed by a march from the campus to the Nodaway County Courthouse in downtown Maryville.
All of the planned activities have been organized by Simmons’ office, known as the Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
“We’ve seen a strain on race relations in our country during the last few years, and we are in need of healing and understanding,” said Gabbi Ray, who serves as a university coordinator of diversity and inclusion.
“Martin Luther King Jr.’s messages of no violence, equality, and unity are needed in these volatile times. The objective of these events is to remind people in all walks of life of those values and to work together to help our country become one again.”
The peace brunch begins at 11 a.m. Monday in the J.W. Jones Student Union Ballroom. A free hot breakfast buffet will be served, and 2013 Northwest alumnus Carl Stafford will deliver the keynote address.
Students and others will begin marching at 1 p.m. from the union to the courthouse, where student leaders will give a short presentation. Participants are encouraged to make and carry signs that promote peace, equality, justice, and unity.
King Day events and activities centered on civil rights and social justice issues are to continue throughout the week. All are free and open to the public. They include:
· A screening of the documentary “13th,” which explores the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which outlawed slavery, as well as the “progression to mass criminalization,” and the “sprawling American prison industry.” The screening will take place at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in Room 2560 of the Garrett-Strong Science Building.
· JD Lawrence’s stage play “Martin, Malcolm & Me” featuring actors from New York’s Who’s Laughing Now Inc. The play tells the story of Lucky, a young black man whose brother is wrongfully killed by police and who has a chance meeting with Malcolm X and King. Curtain time is 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Ron Houston Center for the Performing Arts.
· A civil rights trivia night set for 8 to 11 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 19, in the Student Union Ballroom. Participants are invited to create teams of four to six people. Study questions will be distributed to teams beforehand. Teams will receive five questions during each of four rounds
Although Martin Luther King Jr. was born on Jan. 15, 1929, his birthday has been observed as a national holiday on the third Monday of each January since 1986.
In observance of the holiday, Northwest will not have classes Monday, Jan, 16, and all university offices will be closed.
King’s leadership of the American civil rights movement during the 1950s and ’60s included the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. There he delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech, which dramatically raised public consciousness about civil rights and established King as a world figure. He was assassinated April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee.
