Monday, Jan. 19, will mark the 24th Annual Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Learning, an all-day event located on the main campus in Bexley. The 24th Day of Learning’s theme is “Silent No More: The Empowered Community.” The theme aims to inspire dialogue, fellowship, and involvement among members of both the university and the community.
Events will run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and classes will be canceled during that time to encourage campus-wide event participation throughout the day. A community gathering will be open in the Student Union beginning at 8 a.m. A convocation will follow to welcome this year’s keynote speaker, Cheryl Brown Henderson, at 9 a.m. Fourteen learning workshops will be offered from 10:30 a.m. until noon at various locations across campus.
According to Almar Walter, director of Diversity and Inclusion, this year’s workshops were tailored to interest and engage students after the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) met with student representatives, including Student Government, Pride, Ebony Brotherhood Association, Sister Network, and resident assistants.
“We wanted to make workshops more relevant to the students and healthier for the community to engage,” Walter said.
He also hopes everyone on campus and in the community will take advantage of the opportunity to learn from, and be inspired by, the keynote speaker–a symbol of history in the present, as she directly connects the audience to history.
The Hank Marr Jazz Luncheon will be open from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. with music by Bobby Floyd, Lloyd Stripling, Michael Cox, and Robert Breithaupt. An adult lunch is $14 and a child lunch is $8; students can use their meal plans to attend the luncheon.
Ongoing events will follow lunch into the afternoon, including an open exhibition of select artworks from the Schumacher Gallery, the final collection and count of canned food drive items, and admission office visits and tours.
Dr. Tom Maroukis, a longtime Capital history professor who recently retired, will have his Martin Luther King Jr. Day pin collection on display in Schumacher Gallery. Maroukis has collected a pin from almost every Day of Learning since it was established in 1992.
Attendees are encouraged to donate a non-perishable food item in Mees Hall before 1 p.m. when the final count of food items will be taken.
“About 2,000 non-perishable food items were counted at the beginning of December, and I would guess the number has doubled since then,” Walter said. “We actually ran out of room to store the donations, but, thankfully, Student Government and other organizations have let us borrow their storage space.”
In addition to his excitement for his first experience of Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Learning at Capital, Walter is especially looking forward to the energy and excitement of the campus and community celebrating and learning together.
For a complete list of workshops and descriptions, visit www.capital.edu/mlk-day-workshops.
About the Keynote Speaker:
Henderson is one of three daughters of Rev. Oliver L. Brown who filed one of history’s most notable lawsuits: Brown vs. Board of Education in 1952. He, along with attorneys and other parents, fought for Henderson’s equality and led the path to desegregating public schools and upholding the 14th amendment. Five separate issues comprised the case of Brown vs. Board of Education, all concerning the issue of segregation in public schools. Henderson along with the families and the last living attorney involved in the five cases were invited to the White House by President Obama in 2014 in honor of the 60th anniversary of the case. She has received many honors and awards and published several writings about Brown vs. Board of Education and education equality. She is the founder and president of the Brown Foundation for Educational Equity, Excellence, and Research, and the owner of Brown & Associates, an educational consulting firm.
For more information about Cheryl Brown Henderson, visit the Brown Foundation website.
