UNIVERSITY HONORS KING WITH SPEAKERS, PROGRAMS

A full slate of activities has been planned on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University this month in conjunction with an all campus commemoration celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.

"The celebration is important for Southeast because Dr. King was and still is popular role model for many Afro-Americans and many young people from different backgrounds," said Juanita Spicer, a volunteer at the Campus Assistance Center.

The celebration will begin at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, with a Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Fund banquet in the University Center Ballroom. The guest speaker will be Mary Francis Berry, a former U.S. Assistant Secretary for Education and currently a U.S. Civil Rights commissioner and professor of American social thought at the University of Pennsylvania. The cost is $25 per person. A reception will follow in the Johnson Faculty Centre.

"The scholarship fund is my pet project because of my late husband Dr. Ed Spicer," she said. "I wanted to have this dinner because so many people are not aware that fund exists."

A Community Fest will be held in the Rose Theatre at 5 p.m. Sunday, and will feature choirs and speakers. The cost is $2 per person.

Spicer said she invited choirs from churches in Cape Girardeau and the surrounding area to the festival. Community leaders have also bee invited to speak about what King would say about the condition of Afro-Americans in 1993.

The event is being held because Southeast wanted an activity planned with and for the community as well as the students on campus, Spicer said.

There are also several activities planned for Jan. 18, beginning at 7:30 a.m. with a Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Breakfast Buffet in the University Center Ballroom. This is the eighth year for the breakfast to be held in tribute to King, said Debra Mitchell-Braxton, assistant director of the Campus Assistance Center.

Following the breakfast, from 9 a.m. to noon, "The Dream Lives" educational forum will be held in the University Center. Melvin Terrell, vice president of student affairs at Northeastern Illinois University, will be the keynote speaker. Terrell has published articles on leadership, education, multicultural diversity, minority mentorship, retention and student affair issues.

At noon, a Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Musical and Oratorical Tribute will be held in the University Center lobby. Tributes will be given by students.

The St. Louis Black Repertory Theatre Company will present "I Remember Harlem" at 3 p.m. Jan. 18, in the Rose Theatre. "I Remember Harlem" brings the story of Harlem Renaissance alive with music, poetry and song.

In addition, the company will offer workshops on "Creative Dramatics" and "Scene Work" at 9 and 11 a.m. Jan. 18, in the theatre.

On the evening of Jan. 18, Ahmad Alaadeen and the Deans of Swing will perform jazz in Rose Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Alaadeen is currently teaching, composing and performing with his band. He was named the 1992 Missouri Arts Award recipient by the Missouri Arts Council, the state's highest honor for achievement in the arts.

Alaadeen will also offer a jazz improvisation workshop to all interested professional and student musicians at 1 p.m., Jan. 18, in Brandt Music Hall, Room 200. The workshop's admission is free, but the space is limited to 30 people. To register, call the Department of Music at 651-2141.

Tickets for the performances by the St. Louis Black Repertory Company and Alaadeen and the Deans of Swing will be available at the door.

During the week of Jan. 18, exhibits of artwork by Cape Girardeau Public Elementary School students commemorating the life of Martin Luther King Jr. will be on display in the University Center Program Lounge and at West Park Mall.

Mitchell-Braxton said the university has celebrated King's birthday for at least the past 12 years. The types of activities vary from year to year, but all are in honor of King, she said.

"This year, we have planned many diverse, educational and cultural activities at a variety of times for anyone to attend," Mitchell-Braxton said.

Faculty, staff, students and the community have attended the activities, especially the breakfast in the past, Mitchell-Braxton said. "We try to encourage students to attend," she said, "not just students of color, but others alike, to celebrate the civil rights movement."

This is not just a tribute to King, but also to his followers who were committed to equality for all Americans, Mitchell-Braxton said.

"Martin Luther King day is very important to us as Afro-Americans and to others who join us," Mitchell-Braxton said. "We can get a sense of who is supporting equality and we can come together in relieving the King's dream. He wanted Afro-Americans and others of inequality to come together."