Our commitment to transforming ourselves through education challenges us to consider our own privileges in relation to people disinherited of theirs. As “autonomous thinkers, discerning moral agents and active citizens of a democratic society,” we are called to partner in the pain of the downtrodden and forgotten and to reach out in solidarity with all people yearning for justice and universal freedoms. This year’s celebration of the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will encourage us to question our social position in the world and how it relates to others. Does your liberal arts education at Denison awaken and prepare you to engage with the complex social problems of our time? How do we reduce our distance from issues such as healthcare, homelessness, and hunger? Are you ready to commit yourself to critique and action?

This year, a series of teach-ins have been organized for the Day of Learning on January 23, 2012. 

2012 Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Planning Committee

Co-Chairs: Erik Farley and Mark Anthony Arceño;

Student Members: Michelle Agunloye, Akeila Benjamin, Raquel Fuentes, Michaela Grenier, Michael Ivy, Tenniecia Williams, and Jessica Wilson;

Faculty and Staff Members: Marlaine Browning, Dr. John Jackson, Susie Kalinoski, Dr. Toni King, Roger Kosson, Rev. Mark Orten, Dr. Tina Pierce, Dr. Lyn Robertson, Dr. Ronald Santoni, Virgina Sharkey, and Jocelyn Taylor.

Special Assistance Provided by: Jacqueline Achard, Brandon Hummons, Joseph Leija, Laurie MacKenzie-Crane, Daniel Persia, and Beth White.

Participants: Denison faculty, staff, and students
Dates: Saturday, January 21, 2012 (1 pm) - Monday, January 23, 2012 (11 am)
REGISTRATION WILL END ON WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18TH. DON'T MISS OUT!

If you drew on your shared knowledge, creativity, and energy, how much could you, as Denisonians, accomplish to address local needs? Inspired by Dr. King's legacy of service, all members of the campus community—students, faculty, staff, and friends of the university—are invited to rise to the challenge of finding out.

We hope you take this opportunity to engage with the theme of Community Empowerment and Civic Engagement in honoring the memory of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Service Challenge Process

On Saturday, January 21st, pre-registered volunteers will be organized into teams, and each team will be presented with a task to complete. The Denisonians for Social Change will give a brief presentation to kick off the event at 1 pm on the 21st in the Burton Morgan Lecture Hall, after which the challenges will be delegated. Teams will have from that point on Saturday until noon on Monday, January 23rd (no classes), to complete the task. Additionally, special projects have been designed to accommodate any students going through sorority recruitment.

Each team's task will remain a secret until it is presented to the team on Saturday. You might be asked to develop a lesson plan on civil rights to teach a high school class on Monday morning, promote voter awareness and registration in the local community, or collect blankets for an organization such as the Salvation Army. Whatever the task, it will draw on the unique talents and skills of all group members, while requiring that you, in the words of Dr. King, "use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right."

After you’ve completed your service challenge, you are invited and encouraged to take part in a Teach-in session during which you will be able to reflect with others on the meaning of what you did, what you learned about others, and whether any change has come about because of your work.

Participants: Denison faculty, staff, and students; Granville and area communities (except for the 2012 Service Challenge)
Date: Monday, January 23, 2012

The Day of Learning is comprised of a series of events in celebration of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. To view just the schedule for this day, click here.

Service Challenge

See above.

Community Dialogue Luncheon

Community Luncheon Locations: Curtis and Huffman Dining Halls
Community Dialogue Luncheon Locations: Curtis Veggie Room and Presidential Dining Room
Time: 11:30 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.

For more information, and to register for the dialogue luncheon, click here.

Convocation

Guest: Donald Whitehead, Jr.
Location: Swasey Chapel
Time: 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Our commitment to transforming ourselves through education challenges us to consider our own privileges in relation to people disinherited of theirs. As “autonomous thinkers, discerning moral agents and active citizens of a democratic society,” we are called to partner in the pain of the downtrodden and forgotten and to reach out in solidarity with all people yearning for justice and universal freedoms. This year's convocation features actor, advocate and motivational speaker Donald Whitehead, Jr., and will conclude with Dr. Toni King setting the stage for the teach-ins that will immediately follow.

Biography of Our Guest Speaker (from iUniverse.com)

Donald Whitehead was born in Cincinnati, Ohio into a dysfunctional family plagued by substance abuse, poverty and domestic violence. Donald attended the University of Cincinnati and he served in the United States Navy from 1982 through 1984. During the next several years Donald’s life would cycle downward until he ended up on the streets of Cincinnati as a person experiencing homelessness. Thankfully Donald’s story did not end there; he overcame his addiction and homeless and has reached unlikely success.

Today, Donald is considered by many to be one of the country’s foremost experts on homelessness. Donald is the former Executive Director of The National Coalition for the Homeless. Donald also served as the President of the Board of Directors for the National Coalition for the Homeless. Donald has provided written and oral testimony for 107th and 108th congress.

In 2005, Donald received a distinguished service award for his work on homelessness from the Congressional Black Caucus. In 2004 Donald received a Distinguished Service Award for Advocacy from the National Head Start Association. In 2001 Donald received a proclamation for his service to the Homeless Population by former Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken. Donald has been awarded the ‘Jimmy Render Award for Homeless Service in Cincinnati and the Stand Down award by the Cincinnati Veterans Administration for his role as Co-Chairman of the 1999, 2000 and 2001 Stand Downs.

Donald has been interviewed in the printed media, on radio, and on television on numerous occasions. Whitehead has been a dinner guest of former President and Senator Bill and Hillary Clinton. Donald also served on the planning committee for the 40th Anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s March on Washington.

In addition to his work on Homelessness, Donald is also an accomplished actor. He has appeared in three movies, commercials and stage plays. In 2000 Donald received a regional Emmy for the movie “Open the sky.” Donald currently resides in Florida with his wife Tracy Whitehead.

An opportunity to interact with Donald Whitehead, Jr. will be made available at the library reception, following the teach-ins.

Teach-Ins

Time: 2:15 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

For more information and to register, click here.

Library Reception

Location: William Howard Doane Library & Seeley G. Mudd Learning Center
Time: 4:00 p.m.

"Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it." - the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (from Strength to Love, 1963)

Please join the Denison community for an informal reception in the Library at 4:00 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 23rd.  It's a time to pause and reconnect with our community.  Since 2006, the Library has promoted the MLK Day of Learning with a reception in its welcoming spaces, and through themed exhibits that reflect the ideals of MLK. 

In his "Letter from Birmingham City Jail," Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., wrote: "Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor. It must be demanded by the oppressed." Following the teach-ins, we invite you to explore various stations throughout the library, including opportunities to continue discussions of this year's Convocation with Donald Whitehead, Jr., as well as your teach-in experience. In addition, a limited number of copies of Most Unlikely to Succeed (iUniverse.com, 2011) will be made available for purchase.

Everyone is invited to join in constructing our campus community.

"Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy." - the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963 speech at Lincoln Memorial)

Host & Co-Sponsor: William Howard Doane Library

Participants: Faculty, staff, students, and Granville and area communities
Exhibit Dates: Monday, January 23, 2012 - Thursday, February 2, 2012
"Opening" Reception: Thursday, January 26, 2012
Reception Time: 4:30 pm
Location: Burton Morgan Atrium Lobby

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s work as minister, scholar and activist seems to follow a trajectory that goes from a focus on civil rights to a focus on human rights. As an activist he began to make connections between between local and international concerns. In other words, he shifted his rights-speak from a focus on justice for "citizens" to justice for "humans."

During the summer of 2011, Denison students (Michelle Agunloye ‘14, Raquel Fuentes ‘14, Michaela Grenier ‘14, Michael Ivy ‘13) participated in the Higher Education Consortium for Urban Affairs (HECUA)’s “Civil Rights Movement: History and Consequences” off-campus study program. They learned not only about the history of the Civil Rights movement but about contemporary resonances of that movement in the South and throughout the United States. Through dialogue, lectures, readings and documentaries, these students engaged with their role in keeping this movement alive. The group worked with Dr. Jack Shuler, Assistant Professor of English, on a directed study to help them keep thinking about their summer experience, as well as imagine ways to share that experience with others. In order to meet this end, the students have created an exhibit entitled: “Civil Rights. Human Rights. Our Rights.” The exhibit will explore their understanding of the ongoing human rights struggles in the United States. The group hopes to raise awareness about these issues, which is the first step toward defying that distance. They are attempting to make these issues come alive for people and make them seem less distant from life here “on the hill.”

Sponsors: 2012 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Planning Committee, and Denisonians for Social Change

Participants: Faculty, staff and students
Date: Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Time: 9:00 pm
Location: The Bandersnatch

Celebrate this leap year with the Denison community as we share our understanding of this year's MLK theme through artistic expression. Through visual art, spoken word, song, dance or acting, we invite you to share in the ever-changing definition of what it really means to actually defy the distance and be in solidarity with the disinherited. All students, faculty and staff, are invited to attend and actively participate in this year's showcase. If you already know how you would like to contribute to this experience, please contact Mark Anthony Arceno at arcenom@denison.edu to be added to the program schedule. Otherwise, join us and come up to the stage as the spirit moves you!

Sponsors: 2012 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Planning Committee, and Multi-Cultural Epistemology

Participants: Denison faculty, staff, and students
Date: Friday, April 27, 2012
Location: Welsh Hills Room
Time: 4:00 pm

Celebrate the conclusion of the 2012 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. semester-long celebration with presentations by the students of the Black Studies 246.03 course named after this year's theme. This one-credit course meets every Friday to learn and discuss the social, cultural, political, and economic forces that underlie the construction of disinherited groups, inclusive of class, race, ethnicity, gender, religion, and sexual orientation.  Throughout the semester, the class studies the philosophy of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as a theoretical and practical tool for social transformation. In addition to this unique class, students participate in a community service and cultural exploration trip to Washington, D.C.

"In His Spirit: A Multifaith Tribute to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.": In addition, and as we near the conclusion of our semester-long celebration of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we invite you to join us for a multifaith and multicultural program in Dr. King's honor. Bringing together a variety of lived experiences, we will gather as a community of the disinherited, the privileged and everyone in-between, as we remind ourselves and each other of Dr. King’s bold non-violent stance for love, justice, and peace in the face of manifold human pain, suffering and oppression. We hope you will walk with us as we pay tribute to a living movement of many beliefs and political persuasions, as we march in solidarity toward freedom for people around the world.

Sponsor: 2012 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Planning Committee