Williams to Host Annual Celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.

Media contact: Noelle Lemoine, communications assistant; tele: (413) 597-4277; email: [email protected]

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., January 13, 2014—Williams College will celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. with two days of events on Friday, Jan. 17, and Monday, Jan. 20. All are welcome to attend these free, public events.

Friday, January 17:

The Davis Center will lead an assembly at Williamstown Elementary School commemorating the memory of King. The assembly will take place at 10 a.m. in the elementary school’s auditorium. Students will share essays, poems, and poster presentations in response to the question, “Who is Martin Luther King Jr.?” The program will also feature Williams dance and a capella group performances.

Monday, January 20:

From noon to 2 p.m., Williams will present a social change media project in Paresky Center, Baxter Hall. The multimedia project will begin with a screening of the film “Martin Luther King: An Amazing Grace,” the first black-produced documentary about King, released in 1978. A short film, “Cicero Marc,” which is about civil rights in Cicero, Ill., in 1966 will follow. Next, there will be a slideshow of activists and scholars from different civil rights and progressive social justice movements.

From 1 p.m. until 3 p.m., the Center for Learning in Action will be on hand in Paresky Center, Baxter Hall to answer questions about experimental education, civic engagement, and service learning and opportunities on- and off-campus. The Center for Learning in Action will also facilitate a brief hands-on service project for students and community members.

At 4 p.m. in Baxter Hall, College Chaplain Rick Spalding will lead a moment of silence in memory of King. Spalding will also share a few words on the impact King has had on his own work. Then, students from Williamstown Elementary School will present essays they wrote. A group of students from Brayton Elementary School in North Adams will recite excerpts from works by activists Nelson Mandela and Malala Yousafzai.

There will be a film screening of “#Regeneration” at Images Cinema from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. The film asks the following questions: Are young people politically apathetic? What are the current issues that motivate young people to act? Following the film, there will be a panel and discussion led by the college’s Students for Educational Reform.

The events are co-sponsored by the Davis Center, Chaplain’s Office, Dining Services, Zilkha Center for Environmental Initiatives, Health Center, Center for Learning in Action, Williamstown Elementary School, Brayton Elementary School, and community member and film programmer Mike Phillips Jr.

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Published January 13, 2014