Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration at Nazareth College, Jan. 15

Updated with New Events: Keynote speaker Mayor Lovely Warren scheduled for 11:40 a.m.

ROCHESTER, NY (01/09/2018) Nazareth College holds its annual celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. on Monday, Jan. 15, 2018, with student and staff workshops in the morning, followed by a lively celebration of Dr. King's legacy from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., in the Nazareth College Arts Center's Callahan Theater. This ceremony is free and open to the public. Our celebration will continue with a multicultural lunch for $5 in all of the Nazareth Dining Halls served until 2:00 p.m. and ending with a presentation of the North Star Underground Railroad Exhibit. Dr. David Anderson will give remarks at 3 p.m.

The day will be centered around a quote from an essay Dr. King wrote in 1947 for his campus newspaper while studying as an undergraduate at Morehouse College: "The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. . . Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education."

The celebration will include student speakers, Nazareth President Daan Braveman, guest speaker Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren, and a presentation from the winners of the first annual MLK Visual and Performing Arts Awards. Undergraduate and graduate classes are suspended - and all administrative offices are closed - during this period so the campus community can gather together for this special event. Nazareth College is located at 4245 East Avenue, Rochester, N.Y. 14618.

MLK Day of Celebration Agenda

Purple and Gold: A Legacy of Social Justice

8:30AM to 9:20AM

Facilitated by: Susan Nowak and Muhammad Shafiq

Nazareth's History and Interfaith Dialogue

Linehan Chapel in Golisano Academic Center

Diversity and Inclusion Workshops

9:30AM to 10:20AM (Two Offerings):

Social Justice: Advocacy in the Age of Social Media (students only)

Inclusion Practices in the Academy: Beyond the Rhetoric (faculty and staff only)

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Annual Commemoration in the Nazareth College Arts Center, Callahan Theater 10:30AM - 12:30PM (classes suspended)

This year's keynote address will be delivered by:

The Honorable Lovely Ann Warren | Mayor of the City of Rochester

This year's celebration will include a presentation from the winners of the first annual MLK Visual and Performing Arts Awards. The recipients will present and perform their new artistic creations.

2017 MLK Visual and Performing Arts Awards Recipients:

Visual Arts Category: "Ballad of Birmingham" a book with illustrations by Rachel Rochelle Wyche, a junior majoring in Visual Communication Design, from Rochester, New York.

Theatre/Dance Category: "Product of My Ancestors", a multimedia presentation by Jazzmyn M. Ivery-Robinson, a graduate student in the Management program, from Rochester, New York.

Music Category: "We're All One", a piece for voice and piano by Allison Yanoff, a freshman majoring in Music Composition, from Pittsford, New York.

Keynote Speaker Mayor Lovely Warren was elected to office in 2014. She serves as the first female mayor in Rochester history, the second African American to hold the office, and the youngest ever elected to the office. Warren focuses her efforts on improving educational outcomes for the city of Rochester, improving public safety and community/police relations, and addressing the economic disparities present in the city. Warren is the past president of the Rochester Black Bar Association. She has been recognized with a Black Heritage Pioneer Award, Rochester Business Journal's "Forty Under Forty", and The Democrat & Chronicle's "Emerging African-American Leaders." A native of Rochester, Warren earned her bachelor's degree from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, then went on to earn a law degree from Albany Law School of Union University.

Our celebration will continue with a multicultural lunch for $5 in all of the Nazareth Dining Halls served until 2:00 p.m. and ending with a presentation of the North Star Underground Railroad Exhibit.

The North Star Underground Railroad Exhibit

2:00PM - 4:00PM, Linehan Chapel

Remarks by Dr. David Anderson at 3:00PM

The North Star UGRR interactive display traces the history of the Underground Railroad and, specifically, Rochester's role in the UGRR. Dr. David Anderson, visiting professor at Nazareth College, chairs the Rochester/Monroe County Freedom Trail Commission and was recently appointed by U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer to the Frederick Douglass Bicentennial Commission.