News

“Letters of Purpose: Dr. King’s Global Perspective” is the theme for the 32nd Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Award Celebration at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

Dr. Eugene B. Redmond, emeritus professor of English at SIUE, poet, editor and author, will be the main speaker. SIUE Chancellor Julie Furst-Bowe will give the welcome.

Among other things, Redmond will reflect on the first time he saw King when he traveled to Washington, D.C. , for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

During the presentation portion of the celebration, the University will give awards to winners in the following categories:

• Essay
• Poetry
• Visual Arts
• MLK scholarship recipient
• MLK Humanitarian faculty/staff recipient
• MLK Humanitarian community recipient

Also on the program will be an SIUE One Mic Poetry the SIUE Gospel Choir.

“Each year, the campus community, as well as the community at large, plays a vital role in celebrating the life of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his work toward non-violent social change,” said Sarah Laux, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration committee chair and assistant director for the SIUE Kimmel Student Involvement Center. “The honorees at this event exhibit his true humanitarian spirit in the things they do, and in the lives that they touch.”

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville provides students with a high quality, affordable education that prepares them for successful careers and lives of purpose. Built on the foundation of a broad-based liberal education, and enhanced by hands-on research and real-world experiences, the academic preparation SIUE students receive equips them to thrive in the global marketplace and make our communities better places to live. Situated on 2,660 acres of beautiful woodland atop the bluffs overlooking the natural beauty of the Mississippi River’s rich bottomland and only a short drive from downtown St. Louis, the SIUE campus is home to a diverse student body of nearly 14,000.