In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Walla Walla University will present a special CommUnity event on Monday, Jan. 18, at 11 a.m. Classes normally held on Monday at 11 a.m. will meet on Tuesday at 11 a.m. instead.
The event will feature speaker Mary Aparicio who will present “A Future We Must Choose Together.” Aparicio is the editorial page editor of the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin newspaper and graduated from Walla Walla University in 2016. She has been recognized for her community-mindedness and diligent support of the Valley through her work.
Music will center around traditional negro spirituals. University Singers will perform and the Berean praise team will close the service with “We Shall Overcome,” a gospel song which became known as the hymn of the civil rights movement.
Pedrito Maynard-Reid, assistant to the president for diversity, said, “This day is a celebration of a man who fought against all kinds of evils—racism, sexism, and militarism. He fought for peace. He fought to lift up the poor. He was bigger than life; he lifted up so many people in that fight. I look forward to celebrating him and that we do it here is so important. We even move our CommUnity to a Monday for him!”
Community members are invited to join students online for the special service at wallawalla.edu/community.
Other traditional MLK Jr. Day events will not take place this year, including the tri-college peace march.
Posted Jan. 16, 2022.
