MLK, Jr. Week ’19 to Feature Student Diversity and Service
University of Findlay’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Week 2019 will incorporate diversity and community service with several public events meant to honor the late civil rights activist and his work.
The University’s free MLK Celebration will be held at noon on Wednesday, Jan. 23 in the Winebrenner Building’s TLB Auditorium. Featured speakers will include alumna Ingrid Godfrey ’15, and students Sadia Akhter Aurna and Olunife Akinmolayan. The event will be livestreamed on UFTV Productions’ YouTube page, which can be accessed here.
Godfrey graduated from UF with a Bachelor of Science in biology and animal science/pre-veterinary medicine in 2015. She was UF Habitat for Humanity chapter president, and recently completed two years in the Peace Corps, where she was a health education specialist in Moldova. In December she earned a graduate degree in public health at the University of Pittsburgh. Aurna, a sophomore studying theater and international relations with a minor in sustainability development, is a youth activist, film director and founder of a community organization. Before coming to UF, Aurna was one of 10 selected for UNICEF’s Voices of Youth Blogging Internship, and was chosen to participate in the Hands-On Institute’s 2016 International Sustainability Development Program held in Nepal. Akinmolayan, a second-year pharmacy student, is Student Government Association vice president. He is a 3-time Illinois Youth and Government State Officer and is now developing a YouTube series titled “dOse of O,” which highlights important topics for young adults.
Other public MLK, Jr. Week diversity and service events on UF’s campus will include:
- Toiletry Drive – From Jan. 22-25, donations of shampoo, soap, conditioner, toothpaste, toothbrushes and deodorant will be collected at the Alumni Memorial Union, Center for Student Life, Davis Street Building lobby, and the Buford Center for Diversity and Service at 1222 N. Cory St. Monetary donations will be accepted at the Buford Center. On Jan. 26, the collected toiletry items will be distributed, along with 10,000 pounds of groceries, at the mobile food pantry sponsored by UF and CHOPIN Hall.
- Buford Dialogue – On Jan. 24 at 12 p.m. at the Buford Center, alumna Ingrid Godfrey will lead a discussion about diversity and service. Food will be provided.
- Revive – On Jan. 24 at 9 p.m. at the Winebrenner Building’s TLB Auditorium, UF’s weekly contemporary Christian worship service, led by students, will be held. The evening will feature recording artists Seth & Nirva, who will perform songs and discuss multiethnic unity within the church.
These University of Findlay events honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. are sponsored by the University of Findlay Diversity Initiative and the Buford Center for Diversity and Service. For more information, contact Robert E. Braylock, Pharm.D., director of intercultural student services, at 419-434-6967.