30th Anniversary Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Welcome to Michigan State University’s Web site celebrating the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1998, the university administration officially canceled the regular class schedule on the national holiday which commemorates the legacy of Dr. King. Each year on the third Monday of January, MSU takes time to remember Martin Luther King, Jr.’s fight for the freedom, equality, and dignity of all people. On this day, more than any other, many of us reflect on Dr. King’s message of making life a better place for all through nonviolent means.
“The Message, Our History, Our Future”
In 2010, MSU celebrates 30 years of honoring the memory of Dr. King. In 1980, an MSU graduate student took steps to form a coalition of supporters on campus to formally recognize a man who was courageous, deliberate and self-sacrificing in his effort to make America a better place for all of its citizens regardless of race or economic status. It is important to be mindful that this is a special day – one which symbolizes our nation’s commitment to peace through justice and to a democratic society based on the principles of freedom, justice and equality for all people. The 2010 theme, “The Message, Our History, Our Future”, embraces MSU’s commitment to honor this great American leader, reviews the history of our celebrations, as well as acknowledges the 50th anniversary of the Greensboro Sit-ins which is described as the event that launched a movement in America in the 1960s.
Michigan State University encourages you to use this occasion as an opportunity to enlist your community in helping to establish a lasting, living monument for honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. Join us and thousands of people all over the world in making a permanent commitment to carry on his unfinished work. Our “birthday gift” to Dr. King is to insure that his memory lives on from generation to generation.