The 15th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Unity Breakfast will be held Monday 7 a.m. in the Colvard Student Union Ballroom.
The breakfast will honor the birthday of King, who was assassinated in 1968. Many remember King for his achievements and making great strides in the civil rights movement.
Mary Alexander, director of the diversity and equity program, said the purpose of the event is to honor the work of King and his dream.
“His dream, in one word, was unity,” she said. “We do the program to share in the vision of Dr. King.”
The breakfast will be followed by a program with several speakers. The keynote speaker for the event is the Constance Slaughter-Harvey. Slaughter-Harvey was the first black woman to graduate from law school at the University of Mississippi. She has achieved much in her legal career, including serving as the first black judge in Mississippi. She is vice chair of the Mississippi Supreme Court Gender Task Force and is president of the Slaughter Memorial Foundation.
“We tried to choose a speaker who is familiar with the work of Martin Luther King and has participated in that kind of work,” Alexander said. “[Slaughter-Harvey] has traveled worldwide working to bring people together to achieve laws that will help get them their civil rights.”
Holmes Cultural Diversity Center director E. Maria White said she has met Slaughter-Harvey, and said she expects her message to reflect an effort of unity.
“[Slaughter-Harvey] is an awesome person. She is going to bring us a great message,” White said.
Other features of the event include a speech from Mississippi State University President Mark Keenum.
Special presentations will be done by Starkville Mayor Dan Camp. Black Voices Gospel Choir will give a musical presentation.
Tracy Lynn Hardrict, president of Black Voices, said it is because of King’s efforts that changes have been made proving that equal rights for all races are possible, particularly in the case of president-elect Barack Obama.
Alexander said the attendance number of the event has increased each year. Last year, more than 600 people attended.
Senior biological engineering major Jeral Self said she is attending the breakfast for the third time this year.
“By going to the breakfast, it motivates people to be proactive on Martin Luther King Day instead of lying in bed all day,” Self said.
Stephen Middleton, director of African American Studies, said the breakfast is a way for MSU to join the rest of the nation in honoring King, his work and the progress that has been made in the civil rights movement in the United States.
“Mississippi State has joined institutions around the United States in recognizing that Dr. King helped the country make a shift from one where people were excluded to one where people are included in institutions, in the way we conduct business and in the way we live,” he said. “It will be a reminder of how one individual can make a huge difference in the lives of the people.”