Martin Luther King Jr. Week Programs Set at JMU

James Madison University will honor the legacy of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. through fellowship, performance and a formal program with keynote speaker Dr. Julianne Malveaux during "He Lit the Torch, We Make the Difference," a week-long celebration of King's life, Jan. 13-19 and 24. 

Program highlights include service projects with groups including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Boys and Girls Club of America and Habitat for Humanity; a Friday-night performance of "The Last Year in the Life of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as devised by Waterwell: A Rock Operetta"; and the Monday-night formal program with Malveaux. 

The operetta will begin at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Jan. 16, at Wilson Hall Auditorium. Admission is $12 for JMU students and $25 for the public. 

The formal program, set for 7 p.m., Monday, Jan. 19, will honor King's life through a candle lighting ceremony, dramatic expressions, music and a keynote address by Malveaux. Currently the president of Bennett College in Greensboro, N.C., Malveaux is one of the nation's leading voices on the issues of race, culture, gender and their economic impacts. 

As a syndicated columnist and writer, Malveaux's work has appeared in newspapers and magazines across the country, and she has been a regular contributor to television programs on PBS, MSNBC, Fox News and CNN. 

"He Lit the Torch - We Make the Difference" is sponsored by the JMU Center for Multicultural Student Services. 

For a full schedule of the week's events, visit https://www.jmu.edu/multicultural/. For more information, call the CMSS at 568-6636.