MLK Observances at Michigan Tech Jan. 21-26

Michigan Technological University is holding a series of events Jan. 21-26, in recognition of Martin Luther King's birthday, observed Monday, Jan. 21. The MLK events are sponsored by the Black Student Association and Educational Opportunity.

MLK Week observances are capped by the Martin Luther King Jr. Banquet, set for 6 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 26. State Rep. George Cushingberry (D-Detroit) will be the keynote speaker; he will be introduced by State Rep. Mike Lahti">Lahti (D-Hancock).

In addition to serving in the State House of Representatives from 1974 to 1982, Cushingberry chairs the House Appropriations Committee. He also served on the Wayne County Board of Commissioners for 16 years, practices law, and is an assistant pastor of New Starlight Baptist Church.

The MLK Gospel Choir will give a performance dedicated to Inetta Harris, who died Jan. 14. Harris, a former faculty member in the fine arts department, directed the University's Echoes from Heaven Gospel Choir from 1994 to 2003.

Tickets for the banquet are $10 for students, $15 for everyone else, and are available from Educational Opportunity, 487-2920, and from the student concessions desk on the ground floor of the Memorial Union.

Classes are not held on Monday in recognition of Martin Luther King Day. At noon, senior Vincent Iduma will deliver King's "I Have a Dream" speech outside the Memorial Union. A candle-lighting ceremony will be held, followed by a walk to the Rozsa Center. In the Horner Lobby, two undergraduates will discuss their personal experiences at Michigan Tech and their hopes for the future. Lisa Grayson will present "Past to Present," and Tendi Hungwe will give the talk "Present to Future."

At 6 p.m. Tuesday, in room 329 of Fisher Hall, Assistant Professor Matthew Seigel (Humanities) will give a talk, "Mixing Blood: On a Diverse Lit, Obiter Dicta," Latin for "things which are said in passing." He will discuss the landscape of American literature post-King and the relationship between the civil rights movements of the 1950s, '60s and '70s and American literature.

On Wednesday at 6 p.m., in Fisher 139, Keweenaw Pride will host "Eye of the Storm," based on the “Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes” exercise devised for a third-grade, all-white class in response to King's assassination in 1968. The exercise labels its participants as inferior or superior based on eye color, exposing them to the experiences of being a minority.

The BSA will host a free movie, "Do the Right Thing," and discussion on Thursday at 6 p.m. in Fisher 329.

For more information, call Educational Opportunity at 487-2920.

Michigan Technological University is a public research university founded in 1885 in Houghton, Michigan, and is home to more than 7,000 students from 55 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, Michigan’s flagship technological university offers more than 120 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, computing, forestry, business and economics, health professions, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, and the arts. The rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, offering year-round opportunities for outdoor adventure.