CSC events to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day

The lineup of events begins with an open mic Sunday, Jan. 18. Residence Life, the Diversity Committee and Student Affairs are collaborating to host the event 8-11 p.m. in the CSC Student Center Ballroom. Members of the campus and community residents are welcome to share poetry or music they feel is appropriate for celebrating MLK Jr. Day.

The following day, four panel discussions organized by Dr. Dave Nesheim, assistant professor in the Social and Communication Arts department, will also be open to the public in the Student Center Ballroom. Panels of both students and faculty members will be moderated by faculty members of the Social and Communication Arts department.

Nesheim will moderate the Jan. 19 panel at 9 a.m., “Slavery by Another Name: Crime and Punishment in the Jim Crow South.” This panel will examine a Public Broadcasting Service-produced documentary, “Slavery by Another Name,” which exposes the system of convict labor that targeted African-American men in the South in the late 19th century and continued until World War II.

The 10 a.m. panel will be moderated by Dr. Robert Knight, Shaunda French and Dr. Matt Evertson. “What We Are Doing for Others: Civic Engagement at CSC,” will feature a discussion about the work of CSC students and employees that fosters community engagement and helps improve the lives of others.

Dr. Kathy Bahr will moderate the 11 a.m. panel, “Letter from a Birmingham Jail: MLK and Civil Disobedience in the 1960s” which considers the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, focusing on the protests in Birmingham, Alabama, in the spring and summer of 1963.

The final panel, at noon, will be moderated by Dr. T. Smith. “#BlackLivesMatter: The Civil Rights Movement in the 21st Century.” This panel surveys the current Civil Rights movement and examines lingering disparities in the United States with an emphasis on urban segregation and prison populations.

At 1:30 p.m., students, faculty, staff and community members are welcome to embark on the traditional march from the intersection of Main Street and Highway 20 to campus. CSC vehicles will be available from 12:45-1:25 p.m. at the Lindeken Clock Tower to transport students, faculty and staff to the start of the march.

“The Road to the Promised Land” exhibition of photographs, facsimiles of landmark documents and quotations by King and others will open Jan. 19 in the gallery of the Sandoz Center. The exhibit illustrates the Civil Rights Movement’s enduring significance by focusing on the people and events that made it possible.

Admission to the center is free and open to the public 8 a.m.-12 p.m. and 1-4 p.m. Monday-Friday and 9 a.m.-12 p.m. and 1-4 p.m. Saturday. The Center is closed Sunday and college holidays. For more information, contact Sarah Polak, center director, at 308-432-6401

—CSC College Relations