Northwestern to Observe MLK Jr. Day
Northwestern has suspended classes on Monday, Jan. 21, on both campuses for a University-wide, full-day observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The celebration will include a series of events and talks, which are free and open to the public.
Theodore M. Shaw, director-counsel and president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), the nation’s premier civil rights law firm, will be the keynote speaker that day on the University’s Chicago campus.
Shaw will present his keynote talk during a noon celebration in Thorne Auditorium at the School of Law, 375 E. Chicago Ave. The program will include a musical commemoration by the guest gospel music group G3 and remarks from the deans of both the University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and the School of Law.
Shaw’s talk will be preceded by a 10 a.m. mock oral argument, also taking place at Thorne Auditorium, featuring teams of students and professors re-arguing the recent Supreme Court desegregation case, Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1. A few 7th Circuit Court District Judges will serve on a panel as Supreme Court Justices.
Following Shaw’s appearance, a 1:30 p.m. medical panel on “Racialized Medicine” will take place in the Hughes Auditorium of the Robert H. Lurie Medical Research Center, 303 E. Superior St. The purpose of the panel is to explore whether race can be quantified for valuable use in science and medicine. The afternoon medical panel is co-sponsored by the School of Law and the School of Medicine. The panel discussion will be followed by a 4 p.m. public reception in the atrium outside the auditorium.
For more information on the Jan. 21 Chicago campus events, phone 312/503-4557. Information about 2008 Martin Luther King Jr. Day events on both campuses also is available online at www.northwestern.edu/mlk/.
Posted January 17, 2008.