MLK Day Events Planned for Mars Hill University

January 8, 2019

Mars Hill University has scheduled a full day of events to commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, January 21, 2019. Classes are canceled for students, with a series of educational and service activities happening on- and off-campus. The day’s events are coordinated by the university’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

9 a.m. – Students will gather to make posters to display at Asheville’s MLK peace march and rally, then board buses/vans to travel to the march.

11 a.m. – Bailey Mountain Park and the Richard L. Hoffman Foundation will hold the 5th annual MLK Day Ascent of Bailey Mountain. Participants will stop at intervals on the hike to read excerpts from Dr. King’s “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech. University participants will gather at Broyhill Chapel to carpool to the trailhead.

11 a.m. – Screening and discussion of the documentary, “At the River I Stand: King’s Final Days,” led by sociology professor Brett Johnson.

11:30 a.m. – Students, faculty, and staff will have the opportunity to participate in the MLK peace march and rally in Asheville. Alaysia Black Hackett, MHU’s director of diversity, equity, and inclusion, is the emcee for the event.

3 p.m. – “Helms vs. Gantt – The 1990 NC Senate Election; Voter Suppression Then & Now” presentation and discussion led by history professor Jonathan McCoy.

3 p.m. – “Beyond Vietnam” presentation about Dr. King’s revolutionary and prescient views of poverty, militarism, and racism, led by political science professor Heather Hawn.

3 p.m. – Community service project led by MHU’s Center for Community Engagement.

5 p.m. – MLK peace candlelight vigil held on the Upper Quad (Lunsford Commons – corner of NC 213 and College Street.