January 18, 19, and 20, 2025

UE’s annual MLK Celebration will be held January 18, 19, and 20, 2025. The complete schedule is listed below. To register for the Day of Service, click the respective button below.

Order of Events

• MLK United Day of Service
  • Check-in open at 7:30 a.m. at C. K. Newsome Center
  • Program starts at 8:00 a.m.
    See Day of Service Details Below

• Faith-Based Dialogue
  One Body, Many Voices: A More Faithful Approach to Race and Equity in the Church
  • Held in Shanklin Theatre at 3:00 p.m.
    Dr. Oneya F. Okuwobi (The Ohio State University) serves as our special guest leading our faith-based discussion panel.
    See Faith-Based Dialogue Details Below

• Rally and Symbolic March
  • 2:30 p.m. – Rally at Meeks Family Fieldhouse
    Featuring Boom Squad Inc. and Hot Chocolate
  • 3:00 p.m. – Symbolic March
    See Rally and Symbolic March Details Below
• William G. and Rose M. Mays Lectureship, 2025 Mays Legacy Award, and Rising Star Service Award presentations. Eykamp Hall
  • Doors open at 3:30 p.m.
    Music and heavy hors d’oeuvres are free and open to the public.
    A donation of non-perishable items to benefit the UE Aces Haven are encouraged.
  • The program opens with award presentations at 4:30 p.m.
    • 4:45 p.m. – Harrison Step Team
    • 5:00 p.m. – Speaker: Dr. Kaye Wise Whitehead
    • 5:45 p.m. – Community Leadership Panel
    • 6:15 p.m. – 6:45 p.m. – Book Signing
    See Lectureship Details Below

Program Details

MLK United Day of Service

Saturday, January 18
C.K. Newsome Center

• Check-in starts at 7:30 a.m. at C. K. Newsome Center
• Program starts at 8:00 a.m.

The University of Evansville, the University of Southern Indiana, and Ivy Tech have partnered to organize a meaningful day of service, where students, faculty, staff, and community members can come together to give back to the Evansville community in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.

During the event, volunteers will have the opportunity to serve at multiple organizations across the city. Please fill out the registration form below to be placed as a volunteer! 

UE Day of Service Registration

On the day of the event, please check-in at the C.K. Newsome Center starting at 8:00am. At check-in, you'll sign waivers and receive your MLK Day of Service T-shirt.

This is a fantastic opportunity to make a difference in our community while honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I encourage you to register and join us for this impactful day of service.

Faith Based Dialogue
One Body, Many Voices: A More Faithful Approach to Race and Equity in the Church

Sunday, January 19, 3:00 pm
Shanklin Theatre

This faith-based dialogue focuses on understanding racial inequity and the church’s response to it. We'll explore what racial inequity is, how it differs from related concepts like diversity and inclusion, and how the gospel addresses it. We’ll also reflect on how the church has often responded in unhelpful ways, and invite participants to consider more faithful, effective ways to engage with and address racial inequity moving forward.

Our keynote speaker and dialogue facilitator is Oneya Okuwobi who is a critical diversity scholar examining how organizational processes reproduce inequity with a substantive focus on people of color involved in diverse groups, organizations, and institutions.

Dialogue panelists will include Reverend Larry Rascoe from Nazarene Missionary Baptist Church, Jonathan Boettcher from For Evansville, and Ubi Ntewo from LoCK United.

Rally and Symbolic March

Monday, January 20

Rally

2:30 p.m.

Meet at the Meeks Family Field House at 2:30 p.m. to reflect on the day and the meaning and importance of our Collective Leadership in a Changing World.

Featuring a performance by Boom Squad Inc.
Speakers will include:

• Christopher M. Pietruszkiewicz, President
• Ms. Alexa Ferguson, Director of the Center for Inclusive Excellence
• Ms. Trinitie Terrell, Black Student Union (BSU) President
• A Representative from Alpha Phi Alpha
• Dr. Rob Shelby, Vice President for Talent & Community and Chief Inclusion & Equity Officer
• Ms. Bre Bondurant, Spiritual Formation Coordinator

Hot Chocolate will be provided.

Symbolic March

3:00 p.m.

On August 28, 1963, more than a quarter million people participated in the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, gathering near the Lincoln Memorial.

Following the Rally, join us as we come together to commemorate the struggle for peace, fairness, hope, and love… the work of countless individuals past, present, and future.

William G. and Rose M. Mays Lectureship

Monday, January 20

The program opens with award presentations at 4:30 p.m.

• 4:45 p.m. – Harrison Step Team
• 5:00 p.m. – Speaker
• 5:45 p.m. – Community Leadership Panel
• 6:15 p.m. – 6:45 p.m. – Book Signing

This Year’s Speaker

Held in Eykamp Hall on the second floor of Ridgway University Center, the William G. and Rose M. Mays Lectureship will be an opportunity for community members to join in fellowship. The time will be filled with performances, student speakers, award presentations, and our featured keynote speaker.

Each year, the Martin Luther King Lectureship is made possible by the generous support of William G. and Rose M. Mays. The 2025 lectureship will feature keynote speaker will be Dr. Karsonya "Kaye" Wise Whitehead.

Karsonya “Kaye” Wise Whitehead, Ph.D., is the founding executive director of the Karson Institute for Race, Peace, and Social Justice and a professor of communication and African and African American Studies at Loyola University Maryland. She is the host of the award-winning radio show “Today With Dr. Kaye” on WEAA, 88.9 FM, and the recent recipient of the Rev. John LaFarge, S.J. Award; the Vernon Jarrett Medal for Journalistic Excellence for her outstanding reporting on the impact racial reckoning has had in helping to close social/racial wealth gap for Black people in America; the Social Impact Award from the National Pan-Hellenic Council; the 2024 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; and three 2024 Chesapeake Associated Press Broadcasters Association Awards.

As one of only a few daily drive-time afternoon radio shows hosted by a Black woman, “Today with Dr. Kaye” received the 2021 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and has garnered nine Chesapeake Associated Press Broadcasters Association Award from 2017-2023.

She is the author of five books, including the forthcoming my mother’s tomorrow: dispatches from Baltimore’s Black Butterfly; RaceBrave: new and selected works; Notes from a Colored Girl: The Civil War Pocket Diaries of Emilie Frances Davis, which received both the 2015 Darlene Clark Hine Book Award from the Organization of American Historians and the 2014 Letitia Woods Brown Book Award from the Association of Black Women Historians; and Letters to My Black Sons: Raising Boys in a Post-Racial America.

Dr. Whitehead is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated and lives in Baltimore City with her husband.

During this event, the 2025 Mays Legacy Award and the 2025 Rising Star Service Award will also be presented.

Community Leadership Panel

Following Dr. Kaye’s talk Join us for an inspiring Community Leadership Panel as part of our annual MLK Day Lectureship, where distinguished leaders from diverse sectors come together to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy of service, justice, and transformative leadership. This dynamic discussion will explore the ongoing challenges and opportunities in advancing equity, inclusion, and social change within our communities.

Panelists will share their personal journeys, highlight impactful initiatives, and engage in a thought-provoking dialogue about the collective action needed to create meaningful change. Audience members will have the opportunity to ask questions and reflect on how they can contribute to fostering justice and unity in their own spheres of influence.

This panel is a celebration of community resilience here in Evansville and a call to action to uphold Dr. King’s dream of equality and opportunity for all.

Book Signing

Last but certainly not least don’t miss the chance to join us for an exclusive book signing session with this year’s Mays Lectureship speaker, Dr. Kaye! Her award-winning book, Notes from a Colored Girl: The Civil War Pocket Diaries of Emilie Frances Davis—recipient of the 2015 Darlene Clark Hine Book Award and the 2014 Letitia Woods Brown Book Award—will be available for purchase. But that’s not all! You’ll also have the opportunity to grab a copy of her powerful work, Letters to My Black Sons: Raising Boys in a Post-Racial America.

This is your moment to meet Dr. Kaye, hear her inspiring perspectives, and take home a piece of her brilliance. Let’s celebrate her voice and legacy together!