Civil rights leader to speak at Kent State

Staff report

KENT

Kent State University will stage its 13th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration at 4 p.m. Thursday in the Kent Student Center Ballroom.

Julian Bond, a leader of the civil-rights movement, will serve as keynote speaker at the event. Bond’s keynote address is titled “Crossing the Color Line” and is free to attend, but a ticket is required. Visit www.kent.edu/diversity to download a free ticket. Before the event, there will be a memorial march from Ritchie Hall to the Kent Student Center Ballroom beginning at 3:15 p.m.

“We are honored to have Julian Bond as our keynote speaker this year,” said Alfreda Brown, Kent State’s vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion. “His speech will be relevant in light of many current regional and national headlines that have gained attention across the United States over the past several weeks. Mr. Bond’s experience will take us back to a time of nonviolent protests and engaged activism during a period of unrest in our nation’s history, and specifically what he did as a leader of students on college campuses in the 1960s. The timing of Mr. Bond’s arrival at Kent State is perfectly aligned as an opportunity to learn new perspectives on age-old challenges.”

Bond, who narrated the May 4 Walking Tour documentary for the guided tour stations at Kent State’s May 4 memorial site, is a Distinguished Visiting Professor at American University in Washington, D.C., and a professor in the history department at the University of Virginia. He has been at the forefront of civil-rights activism for several decades.

Other commemorative events include “Race in America: Journey for Peace Student Forum” presented by the University Dialogue Series on Jan. 22 from 1:30 to 3:15 p.m. at Ritchie Hall’s African Community Theatre (limited seating is available), which will be followed by the silent memorial march that precedes Bond’s keynote address; the May 4 Visitors Center also will be open Jan. 22. A Cultural Extravaganza will take place Jan. 23 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Kent Student Center Kiva; the Game of Life, an interactive inequality simulation, will take place Jan. 28 from 4:30 to 7 p.m. in the Kent Student Center Ballroom; and Soup & Substance, which will feature an interfaith panel, will take place Jan. 28 from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Student Multicultural Center, on the second floor of the Kent Student Center.

A free ticket is required to attend Bond’s keynote address Thursday, which is open to the public. All other commemorative events are also free and open to the public.