Pitt Sets Martin Luther King Jr. Week for Jan. 17-24

The University of Pittsburgh will celebrate its annual Martin Luther King Jr. Week from Jan. 17-24. Several activities are planned for the weeklong celebration, titled Becoming a Just Community, when Pitt’s students, faculty, and staff will honor the legacy and service of the renowned civil-rights leader.

Among the planned events are a 7 p.m. Jan. 17 interfaith service in Heinz Memorial Chapel as well as participation in the National Day of Service on Jan. 20, which is the Martin Luther King Jr. Day federal holiday. Each year, several hundred Pitt students participate in the day of service, completing volunteer projects for organizations throughout the City of Pittsburgh. The schedule of events follows.

Friday, Jan. 17
Interfaith Service
7 p.m., Heinz Chapel 

Monday, Jan. 20
National Day of Service
Pitt students may volunteer for a variety of service events across the region. Register link is: www.eventbrite.com/e/mlk-day-of-service-2014-registration-502770801.
Candlelight Vigil in memory of King 7:06 p.m., Cathedral of Learning Steps, Led by Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

Thursday, Jan. 23
Social Justice Symposium
9 a.m.-1 p.m., University Club
Presentations will address the question of how to build an inclusive community among Pitt’s international students. The morning session will feature guest speaker, Rudie Altamirano, director of International Student and Scholar Services at the University of Pennsylvania.
Please RSVP to hallt@pitt.edu by Fri., Jan. 17. Lunch will be provided.
Guest speaker, Judy Smith, 6 p.m. William Pitt Union, Assembly Room
Smith leads a strategic and crisis-communications firm. She is a former Assistant U.S. Attorney and Special Counsel to the U.S. Attorney of the District of Columbia. She has served as a consultant for a number of high-profile celebrity clients, including Monica Lewinsky and NFL quarterback Michael Vick. She is also active in public policy issues such as education, economic development, and peace-building abroad. Event sponsored by Pitt’s Black Action Society.

Friday, Jan. 24
Equipoise Unity Brunch
O’Hara Student Center
RSVP to hallt@pitt.edu by Jan. 21.
Shabbat Dinner for international students, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Hillel Jewish University Center, 4607 Forbes Ave., Oakland. All are welcome.

King visited Pitt on Nov. 2, 1966, and delivered a speech at the William Pitt Union to about 2,000 students, faculty, and staff. His lecture, “The Future of Integration,” noted the progress being made in achieving racial equality, but focused primarily on the economic plight of African Americans in the United States. “In the Negro middle class, conditions are improving, but the vast majority of the Negroes are worse off today than 30 years ago,” King was quoted as saying in the Nov. 4, 1966, Pitt News.

The weeklong celebration is sponsored by Pitt’s Office of Cross Cultural and Leadership Development within the University’s Office of Student Affairs.