Two events will mark Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the federal holiday on Monday, Jan. 21.
All Saints’ Chapel and the School of Theology’s Committee for Diversity and Reconciliation will host a service at 4:30 p.m. in All Saints’ Chapel. Students, faculty, staff and community members will read the letter written by King while jailed in Birmingham, Ala.
The University’s first African-American graduate, Nathaniel Owens, C’70, will be the featured speaker at the Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration at 6 p.m. in the Bishop’s Common Hearth Room. The African-American Alliance and Office of Multi-Cultural Affairs, the Cumberland Center for Justice and Peace and the Franklin County NAACP are hosts for the event, which begins with a potluck buffet.
Owens came to Sewanee from Hartselle, Tenn. After graduating with honors in English, he decided to attend law school, declining an opportunity to play in the NFL after the Cincinnati Bengal’s football team drafted him. He and his family live in Alabama, where he practices law. His son, Nathaniel, is a sophomore in the College.
Sewanee Praise, the student gospel choir, will perform at the event. Nathalie Fowler, president of the African American Alliance, will emcee the festivities. The evening culminates in a group sing-along.
On Monday, Jan. 21, all federal, state and local government offices will be closed. Public schools will be closed, as will area banks and post offices. St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School and the University will have classes on Monday.
This year, MLK Day coincides with the 57th Presidential Inauguration, King’s birthday was on Jan. 15, but the federal holiday is observed on the third Monday in January.
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