Pitt Commemorates Martin Luther King Jr.

The University of Pittsburgh is honoring the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. with several events this week. 

Pitt’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Week kicked off with the Jan. 18 National Day of Service, which drew more than 800 Pitt students, faculty, staff, alumni, and their families who volunteered at one of 28 service projects in the region. The University’s Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity hosted a campus candlelight vigil in honor of King that evening.

Other events include: 

Jan. 19, 6 p.m., William Pitt Union Assembly Room

A lecture by community activist Opal Tometi, cofounder of #BlackLivesMatter and the executive director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration. Her writing about human rights advocacy has appeared in several national publications. Pitt’s Black Action Society is sponsoring the event. 

Jan. 20, 6 p.m., Heinz Chapel

An annual interfaith service. Student leaders will discuss the topic: “What Would Dr. King Say about the State of Diversity in 2016?”

Jan. 21, 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m., William Pitt Union Assembly Room 

The Sixth Annual Social Justice Symposium, hosted by Pitt’s Office of Cross Cultural and Leadership Development, Division of Student Affairs. This year’s theme, “Creating a Just Community by Listening to the Voice of Diversity,” will focus on disability, veterans, sexual assault, the LGBTQIA community, religion, and race. During the symposium, the University’s Department of Theatre Arts will perform reenactments of real-life scenarios to provide participants with a chance to discuss and respond to these situations.

“This year’s symposium is a call-to-action—an opportunity for all of us to come together and brainstorm ideas about how we can make our Pitt community more just and more accepting,” said Sherdina Harper, coordinator of cross-culture programming. “We can then share these ideas with administrators who have already begun working toward this goal.”

Jan. 22, 11 a.m., William Pitt Union Assembly Room

Rounding out MLK Week is the Equipoise Luncheon, where the Dr. King “Creating a Just Community” award will be presented to Linda Williams-Moore, Pitt’s interim associate dean of students and director of student life. Equipoise comprises University faculty, administrators, and staff who seek to provide fellowship and development opportunities for the diverse Black community at Pitt. 

Additional information about the week’s events is available at www.studentaffairs.pitt.edu/mlk