ECU hosts MLK events

East Carolina University will observe the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday Jan. 21 with events that include the MLK Day challenge, a community breakfast and a candlelight vigil.

The events are sponsored by ECU’s Office of Institutional Diversity, the Office of Student Experiences, the University Union, the Volunteer and Service Learning Center and the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.

Below is the schedule for MLK day activities at ECU:

Jan. 21

  • Community Unity Breakfast, 7:30 a.m., Murphy Center. Dudley Flood, a retired specialist in school desegregation from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, will deliver the keynote speech at the annual breakfast. Sponsored by the Pitt/Greenville Chamber of Commerce. Contact: Frances Faust, 752-4101 or frances@greenvillenc.org.
  • MLK Day Challenge, 8:15 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Mendenhall Student Center. The MLK Day Challenge offers ECU students the opportunity to volunteer with local non-profit organizations. Participating students will spend the day working on community service projects. To register for the event, visit http:// www.ecu.edu/volunteer. Contact Pamela Barclay, 328-2735 or e-mail volunteer@ecu.edu.
  • Candlelight Vigil and March, 5 p.m., Bottom of College Hill Drive. Contact: Ameena Mohyuddin, mohyuddina@ecu.edu or 737-2003.
  • Celebrating Dr. King Through, Words, Song and Storytelling, 7 p.m. at Wright Auditorium. Dr. Shirley Carraway, retired superintendent of Orange County Schools and ECU alumna will deliver the keynote address. Contact: Virginia Hardy at 744-3078 or hardyv@ecu.edu.

Other events:
Jan. 17: Movie Night, “Beyond Beats & Rhymes: Hip-Hop and Manhood,” 7 p.m. at Hendrix Theater in Mendenhall Student Center.

The above events are free and open to the public.

Jan. 19, the Dr. Andrew A. Best Senior Recognition Banquet will be held at the Greenville Hilton for graduating minority medical students. It is sponsored by the Student National Medical Association at the Brody School of Medicine at ECU. Dr. Julius Q. Mallette, assistant vice chancellor for regional health services outreach at ECU, will speak at the annual event. Tickets are $30 for the general public and $15 for students. For more information, call 252-744-2500 or e-mail Akilah Crawford at asc0627@ecu.edu.