Lehigh Announces MLK Day Activities

The following MLK Day events are open to members of the university community:

• At 9 a.m. Monday, Jan. 15h, Lehigh’s South Side Initiative extends an invitation to a free community breakfast at the Cathedral Church of the Nativity in South Bethlehem. It will feature Rev. Thomas A. Sweatt, pastor of the St. James AME Zion Church in Allentown. The community breakfast is co-sponsored by the Bethlehem NAACP and YWCA.
• From 1:30 to 3 p.m. Monday, the Office of Multicultural Affairs is hosting a discussion titled “Where Do We Go From Here? The Future of Inclusion.” All are invited to participate in reflection and fellowship in UC303.

Earlier, the university announced that Pulitzer Prize-winning author Colson Whitehead will deliver the University’s annual MLK address. Whitehead’s talk, which is free and open to the public, will be held at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 6, 2018, in Baker Hall. He will speak on “Revisiting the Underground Railroad.” More information about Whitehead can be found here.

To enrich this event through a deeper exploration of Mr. Whitehead’s provocative and searing novel, “The Underground Railroad,” the MLK Committee has joined with the Friends of the Library and the Council for Equity and Community CEC) in hosting book discussions prior to his lecture. All are welcome to attend these book groups. The first 100 students to register for a book discussion will also receive a free hardcover copy of the book. To register, please follow this link. 

Also scheduled for MLK Day is a discussion of the underground railroad and our role in its present-day form that was organized by Lehigh’s CEC, the Faculty and Staff of Color Network and the Bethlehem chapter of the NAACP. That event is at capacity and cannot accommodate additional attendees.