Three-Day Celebration Planned Of Dr Martin Luther King Jr

FAIRFIELD — Fairfield University will hold a three-day celebration of the life and legacy of Dr Martin Luther King Jr, January 24–26.

Events over the three days will include the LaFarge Convocation with Dr Diana L. Hayes, professor of systematic theology at Georgetown University; a dinner honoring four recipients of The Martin Luther King Vision Award and the winners of the Connecticut Post-Fairfield University Martin Luther King Essay Contest; a “Prayers for Peace” interfaith service followed by a Peace Festival with folktales by Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb and a performance by the all-women jazz ensemble Sage; and the Martin Luther King Jr Youth Leadership Workshop.

The “Prayers for Peace” interfaith service will open the commemoration of Dr King’s life on Wednesday, January 24, at 6 pm, in the Egan Chapel of St Ignatius Loyola at Fairfield University. Students, faculty, and staff from several faiths will lead the community in prayer.

Following the service will be a Peace Festival in the John A. Barone Campus Center, where Rabbi Gottlieb will present “On the Journey Together: Peace and Justice Folktales from Around the World.” The first woman ordained in the Jewish Renewal Movement, Rabbi Gottlieb has influenced thousands of Jews through her creativity, artistry, peace activism, feminism, and focus on spiritual meaning. She is the author of the book She Who Dwells Within, published by Harper SF. Also performing will be Sage.

On Thursday, January 25, Dr Diana L. Hayes will deliver the convocation’s keynote address, “No Dream Left Behind,” at 3 pm in the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts. In addition to her senior faculty status at Georgetown, Dr Hayes is the author of several books including, Were You There?: Stations of the Cross (Orbis Books, 1999), which won a second place award for spirituality from Catholic Publishers Association.During her appearance at Fairfield University, President Jeffrey P. von Arx, SJ, will present her with the John LaFarge, SJ, Award, named in honor of the Rev John LaFarge, SJ, a leader and spokesperson for the human rights of African Americans, long before the Civil Rights Movement emerged in the 1960s.

A dinner will follow the convocation at 6 at the John A. Barone Campus Center. The three top prize winners of the Martin Luther King Jr Essay Contest, sponsored by The Connecticut Post and Fairfield University for sixth, seventh and eighth grade students in Bridgeport, will be announced.

Also announced at the dinner will be four Martin Luther King Jr Vision Award recipients. Charles Tisdale, executive director of Action for Bridgeport Development, Inc (ABCD) of Bridgeport; Barbara Kiernan, director of university publications at Fairfield University; and two women who were instrumental in initiating Fairfield’s new diversity grants award program, Fairfield University Alumna Danielle Hawthone of Stratford, and Senior Ashley Toombs of Newburgh, N.Y., will all receive the honors this year.

The celebration will conclude with a youth leadership workshop from 10 am until 1 pm on Friday, January 26, in the Campus Center.