Willamette University Celebrates Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The Grammy-award winning a capella group, Sweet Honey in the Rock, will appear in concert Friday, Jan. 20, at 7 p.m. in Smith Auditorium at Willamette University as part of a week-long celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Tickets are available to the public at the Putnam University Center Information Desk from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 18; from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Jan. 19, and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Jan. 20. If available, tickets may be purchased the night of the event at the Smith Auditorium box office beginning at 6 p.m. Tickets are $5 with a four-ticket per person limit.

Other events open to the general public include a Willamette University Convocation Thursday, Jan. 19, from 12:45 to 1:45 p.m. in the Hatfield Room of the Hatfield Library. The event features the PBS documentary “Sweet Honey in the Rock—Raise Your Voice!” Admission is free.

The public is also invited to the Thursday, Jan. 19, “Raising My Voice for Justice” forum in the Bistro from 3 to 6 p.m. Members of the University community will share their ideas for justice through speech, poetry and other expressions. Refreshments will be served. For details, call Paula Sams-Ingle at 503-370-6103.

Four additional events are for Willamette University students, faculty and staff only.

• Signing the Birmingham Pledge, Monday, Jan. 16, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in University Center, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 5 to 7 p.m. in Goudy Commons. The pledge encourages people to make a personal commitment to racial harmony.
• Raise Your Voice luncheon Friday, Jan. 20, from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in Cat Cavern includes a showing of “Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years” with a discussion of Rosa Parks and the Montgomery bus boycott. Discussion participants include representatives from the Salem/Kaiser Coalition for Equality, The Farmer Workers Housing Development Corporation, and Basic Rights Oregon. Emily Drew, assistant professor in American Ethnic Studies at Willamette, will lead the discussion. For lunch reservations call the Office of Multicultural Affairs at 503-370-6265.
• Students, faculty and staff are also encouraged to attend Into the Streets: Community Service in Salem Friday, Jan. 20, from 2 to 4:30 p.m. in the Alumni Lounge in University Center. Participants will learn about community service opportunities in the Salem area.
• The Hunger Banquet Friday, Jan. 27, from 5 to 7 p.m. in Cat Cavern. The banquet is a simulation of world hunger and includes a speaker and discussion of hunger and poverty. Willamette students donate meal points from their individual University meal program and agree to skip a meal in support of the project. Last year, Willamette students raised more than $2,000 for the Salem Outreach Shelter.