MLK Commemoration 2024

Interfaith Prayer Brunch and Keynote Address

Sandy Womack will deliver the keynote address at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Interfaith Prayer Brunch. All are welcome to attend.

Book Talk and Signing

Ric Sheffield, Ph.D., the NAACP’s MLK keynote speaker, will talk about and sign copies of his 2021 book, We Got By: A Black Family’s Journey in the Heartland.

Martin Luther King Jr. Community Celebration Service

Keynote Speaker
Ric Sheffield, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus at Kenyon College, will give the keynote address at the Wooster/Orrville NAACP’s Martin Luther King Jr. Community Celebration Service. His address is titled, “Building Bridges for Rural Diversity on the Shoulders of Empathy and Compassion.”

Martin Luther King Jr. Essay Contest winners will be presented with their awards.

Justice Dialogue: Reframing Justice through Education in the Wooster Community
Pam Frese, Professor of Sociology and Anthropology

What role does education play in promoting justice? This panel will share different forms of education within our community that seek to promote justice for all and build an awareness of the cultures in which we live. Four presenters will share their important perspectives on the role that education needs to have in our world today.

Justice Dialogue: A New Vision for Israel/Palestine
Joan Friedman, Professor of History of Religious Studies

How could Israelis and Palestinians imagine a justice-minded solution to the ongoing conflict? This dialogue will highlight the small but growing movement of Israelis and Palestinians advocating for a confederation of two states as the best and most equitable resolution to the ongoing conflict.

Justice Dialogue: #BannedBooks and Redefining Justice for Lived Experiences and Knowledges of Marginalized/Minoritized Communities
Pras Subedi ’27

What role do book bans play in erasing the lived experiences of marginalized communities? This dialogue will approach book bans as gendered and racialized and explore their connection to erasing histories of resistance and social change.

Justice Dialogue: The History of Black Student Protests at Wooster: An Interactive Workshop with the Wooster Digital Black History Project
Laura Burch, Associate Professor of French & Francophone Studies; Makayla Smith, Assistant Director of Regional and Multicultural Engagement; and Katie Farr, Institutional Repository Specialist, College Libraries

What role have student protests played in shaping the history of The College of Wooster? This workshop will use the Wooster Digital Black History Project to share some of the ways Black alumni have shaped the development of the College.

Justice Dialogue: Monumental Justice: Honoring History on Campus
Miriam Harley ’24 and Jordan Biro Walters, Associate Professor of History

What role can monuments play in enacting justice? This dialogue will explore the ways the College could use monuments to celebrate aspects of its history connected to movements for justice.

Justice Dialogue: Comprehensive Activism and Intersectionality Through the Lens of Civil Rights Activism
Emma Place ’24

How did civil rights activists make sense of unjust legislation? This dialogue will explore the role unjust legislation has played and continues to play in movements for justice.

Care Package Creation

Collaborate to assemble thoughtful care packages benefiting a mental health organization, a shelter for domestic violence and abuse survivors, a free medical clinic, and a disability support group. These care packages will be distributed by our community partners: National Alliance on Mental Illness of Wayne/Holmes County, OneEighty, Viola Startzman Clinic, and Adaptive Sports Ohio.

Through January 12, community members are welcome to drop off items such as toothbrushes, dish soap, shampoo, soap, trash bags, socks, gloves, and more to the Center of Diversity and Inclusion Lounge on the second floor of the Lowry Student Center.