This year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Celebration, hosted by Penn State’s Forum on Black Affairs, will take place from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on Friday, January 15 via Zoom.

In past years, Penn Staters and community members gathered together in person to celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., but due to the coronavirus pandemic, FoBA needed to make a change.

“This year, due to the global pandemic, we will not be able to gather in person, so we have partnered with our colleagues from Penn State World Campus Student Affairs to virtually commemorate Dr. King’s legacy,” FoBA President Andre Culbreath said. “We look forward to seeing you at this special occasion in honor of Dr. King.”

The theme for this year’s celebration is “Project 1972: A Conversation with Our Elders.” FoBA will host a virtual panel including Penn State staff and faculty who worked at the university at the height of the civil rights movement, along with members of the Class of 1972 who were freshmen in 1968, the year Dr. King was assassinated.

“Join us for a conversation with this dynamic generation who are the true subject-matter experts on issues of racial equity, social justice, and the impact of Dr. King’s legacy,” said Associate Director of Equity, Inclusion, and Advocacy Denita Wright Watson. “We revere this opportunity and privilege to gather at the feet of our elders to view the world from their lens and to learn from their life experience. We will discuss their view of the current social justice resurgence, how it compares to what they witnessed in the 1960s and 1970s, what it was like to be at Penn State during that time, and what, if anything, has changed.”

The hour-and-a-half-long event will also include musical performances by Jeffrey Lampkin and the Francis Marion University YGB Choir.

Additionally, the announcement of the Fannie Lou Hamer – W.E.B. DuBois Service Scholarship award recipient will take place during the celebration.

The event can be accessed through this Zoom link, and any questions about the celebration can be directed to Andre Culbreath, Denita Wright, or Stephanie Danette Preston, FoBA’s immediate past president.