Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration scheduled by Student Activities Board

Jan. 7, 2008 -- A celebration honoring the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has been scheduled at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro with a three-day slate of events. “Are You Living the Dream?” is the theme of the celebration sponsored by ASU’s Student Activities Board. No classes will be held on Monday, Jan. 21, in honor of the observation of Dr. King's birthday.

The celebration's events begin on Monday, Jan. 21, and continue through Wednesday, Jan. 23. The week-long celebration is coordinated through the Tribal Leadership Center. For more details, contact Jerrod O. Lockhart, assistant dean of students, in the Tribal Leadership Center at 870-972-2055, or via e-mail at jlockhar@astate.edu.

Monday, January 21
Northeast Arkansas MLK Community March and Celebration
The community march will begin at the Fisher Street Church of God in Christ (COGIC) International Church, 125 N. Fisher Street, at 10 a.m. (corner of Fisher and Johnson.) The march is coordinated by the Northeast Arkansas Martin Luther King Jr. Commission, chaired by Reverend Dr. Ray Scales, pastor of New Mount Zion Church in Jonesboro. Several local pastors will lead the march, accompanied by the Hamilton High School Marching Band from Memphis, east on Johnson Ave. to Caraway Road, where the marchers will turn south onto the ASU campus. The marchers will proceed past the east side of the Student Union (street address!!) and will pause at the Heritage Plaza Lawn for a performance by the Hamilton High School Marching Band. The march disperses on the Heritage Plaza lawn, and the marchers will proceed to the ASU Reng Center for Student Services/Student Union’s Centennial Ballroom (101 N. Caraway Road, Jonesboro), where the MLK Celebration will begin between 11-11:30 a.m. State Attorney General Dustin McDaniel will be the celebration’s keynote speaker.
The MLK Candlelight Vigil will take place at 6 p.m. in the ASU Reng Center for Student Services/Student Union’s Centennial Ballroom.

Tuesday, January 22
The Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.’s MLK March will take place at 12 noon in the  Student Union Center Court.
The NAACP Pillow Talk, “Have We Lost the Dream?” will begin at 9 p.m. in ASU’s Student Union Auditorium. Refreshments will be served prior to the talk at 8:30 p.m.

Wednesday, January 23
“The Arrival,” a series of vignettes dramatizing important moments in the Civil Rights movement, will be presented at 12 noon  by members of ASU’s Student Activities Board MLK celebration committee members. “The Arrival” will be staged in the Student Union Center Court.
The “Taking a STAND” Leadership Banquet will begin at 6 p.m. State Senator Tracy Steele will be the keynote speaker. Steele is serving a third consecutive term as a state senator, and he is also CEO of the STAND Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit corporation providing leadership training for young adults, based in North Little Rock. Steele is also former executive director of the Little Rock-based Arkansas Martin Luther King Jr. Commission. Read more about Tracy Steele.

Highlights of the evening will include the presentation of two 2008 MLK Image Awards, one for a faculty or staff member and one for a student. In addition, a $250 2008 MLK book scholarship will be awarded.

The public is welcome to attend the leadership banquet, but free admission is by ticket only. Tickets may be reserved by calling Jerrod O. Lockhart or Candence Williams at (870) 972-2055. Tickets may be picked up in the ASU Student Union Tribal Leadership Center between 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday, Jan. 14-18. No entry to the leadership banquet will be permitted without a ticket to the event.

Nomination and application deadline for the 2008 MLK Image awards and for the scholarship is Thursday, Jan. 17, 5 p.m. Nomination and application forms should be submitted to the Tribal Leadership Center, second floor, ASU Student Union. For forms, contact Jerrod O. Lockhart at (870) 972-2055 or via e-mail at jlockhar@astate.edu.

All events are free and open to the public. For more information, call Jerrod O. Lockhart, assistant dean of students, in the Tribal Leadership Center at (870) 972-2055.

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