2025 Calendar of Events

2025 Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration
January 19 – 31, 2025

The 2025 celebration theme is “Our Beloved Community: Protecting Freedom, Justice & Democracy.”

The information included in this calendar has been provided by each event sponsor. For questions, please email the event contact listed. Comments, opinions, and recommendations expressed are those of the speakers and presenters and do not necessarily reflect the views of the 2025 MLK Commemorative Planning Committee.

If you will need disability-related accommodations in order to participate, please email the contact for the event listed below. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to meet your access needs.

Advocacy for Social Justice and MLK Countywide Committees 39th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Service of Celebration

January 19, 2025, 5 – 7 PM
Krannert Center for the Performing Arts
Foellinger Great Hall
500 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL

Featured Keynote Speaker: Rev. Dr. Claude Shelby, Pastor Emeritus of Salem Baptist Church, Champaign, IL

The partnership of the Advocacy for Justice and the Countywide MLK Committee will celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This event will highlight the academic achievement of local area high school students in announcing this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship recipients and include the presentation of the James R. Burgess, Jr. Award, Susan Freiburg Humanitarian Award, the Doris Hoskins Prestigious Community Service Award, and the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Outstanding Achievement Award.

For more information, please visit the event page.  To request disability-related accommodation for this event, please contact the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at diversity@illinois.edu.

Sponsors: The Martin Luther King, Jr. Advocacy for Justice Committee, MLK County-wide Committee, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

39th Annual Unity Breakfast

January 20, 2025, 8:30 – 11 AM
Vineyard Church
1500 N. Lincoln Avenue, Urbana, IL

Community members are invited to attend the 39th Annual Unity Breakfast sponsored by the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Advocacy for Justice Committee and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and hosted by the Vineyard Church. Please join us as we honor Dr. King, the most important voice of the civil rights movement and recognize the 2025 Dr. King Scholarship recipients.

For more information, contact Domonic Cobb at dcobb@illinois.edu.

Sponsored by the Martin Luther King, Jr. Advocacy for Justice Committee.

MLK Celebration 2025 Lecture: Rebecca Ginsburg, Finding the Beloved Community in Prison

January 21, 2025, 4:30 – 5:30 PM
OVCDEI 3rd floor, Conference Room 3080
614 E. Daniel Street, Champaign, IL

Each year a distinguished faculty member is asked to speak on the ideals and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  This year’s speaker will be Rebecca Ginsburg, Associate Professor and director of the Education Justice Project, a comprehensive college-in-prison program that provides academic programs to incarcerated individuals and outreach services to the families of incarcerated people and returning citizens. EJP programs operate in Danville, Champaign, and Chicago, IL.

Access to college not only enhances the eventual earning prospects of incarcerated individuals. At their best, higher education in prison programs create loving, supportive, brave spaces within these violent environments. This talk explores the potential for creating education-based beloved communities within prisons and argues that truly committing to the values of such communities requires closing prisons down. 

 Please email Medra Roberts-Southerland with questions or accommodation needs at mrs@illinois.edu. 

Register for the live stream link using the following link: go.illinois.edu/MLKLecture

Sponsors: 2025 MLK Commemorative Planning Committee 

MLK Champions with Featured Speaker Ashley Etienne

January 22, 2025, 6 – 7:30 PM
Student Dining and Residential Programs
Building (SDRP), Multi-Purpose Room 2025
301 E. Gregory Drive, Champaign, IL

The MLK Champions recognition program will celebrate the MLK legacy by recognizing the power of community action to honor local partners, students, faculty, and staff who have dedicated their talents to enhancing the movement of justice, equity, and dignity. The evening will inspire and feature a keynote speaker and local community performers. 

Featured keynote for the evening will be Ashley Etienne, Communications Strategist and senior advisor to our nation’s most powerful leaders: Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi.  

Please register to attend.

For more information, please email Gina Lee-Olukoya at golukoya@illinois.edu.  

Sponsored by the MLK 2025 Commemorative Planning Committee

Illinois Fighting Illini Men’s Basketball game vs. Maryland Terrapins

January 23, 2025, 8 PM
State Farm Center
1800 S. 1st Street, Champaign, IL

The Illinois Men’s Basketball team will be playing their Big 10 rivals The University of Maryland Terrapins on January 23 at 8:00 PM.  Tickets start from $24. To purchase tickets visit the Illinois Fighting Illini Men’s Basketball website. During half time there will be an acknowledgement of Martin Luther King Jr. and his legacy towards civil rights. 

For additional information, please contact Stephon Fuqua at sfuqua@illinois.edu 

Sponsors: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Division of Intercollegiate Athletics, and the 2025 MLK Commemorative Planning Committee 

Rectifying “et al.” History: The Women of Brown Project Discussion of the Oliver Brown, et al. vs. Board of Education of Topeka

January 29, 2025
Doors open at 11:30 AM
Program begins at 12 PM
Reception and Exhibit at 1 PM
Illini Union, South Lounge
1401 W. Green Street, Urbana, IL

Guest speaker, Donna Rae Pearson, is a passionate curator who describes herself as a “radical historian, who gives under-represented groups agency to tell their stories in the most accessible way possible.” Please join the campus community for a discussion titled, “Rectifying “et al.” History: The Women of Brown Project,” where Donna will discuss Oliver Brown, et al. vs. Board of Education of Topeka and the twelve female plaintiffs in the 1954 Supreme Court case. These twelve women played a pivotal role in the Civil Rights Movement. May 2024 marked the 70th anniversary of this landmark case which overturned the 1896 Plessy vs. Ferguson case that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation laws, establishing the “separate but equal” doctrine.  

Please direct questions to Dr. Lisa Jackson at lisaj3@illinois.edu.

 Sponsors: Student Affairs, Bruce D. Nesbitt African American Cultural Center, Diversity & Social Justice Education, Gender & Sexuality Resource Center, Native American House, The Jeffries Center, and the Women’s Resources Center and Office of the Chancellor

School of Social Work Immersive Simulated Experience: Poverty and Service

February 7, 2025, 1 – 3:30 PM
School of Social Work
Room 2015
1010 W. Nevada St., Urbana, IL.

Step into the shoes of those facing financial hardships in our community with an immersive simulated experience. Acknowledging the profound impact of poverty, the School of Social Work, in collaboration with the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and the Champaign Urbana Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. invites students, faculty, staff, and community members to participate in a unique event designed to provide a firsthand understanding of life under financial constraints. During this “Immersive Simulated Experience,” participants will navigate the challenges of limited resources and heightened stress. The simulation encourages individuals to perceive poverty from various perspectives and fosters discussions on the potential for personal and community-driven change. These thought-provoking experiences are crafted to sensitize participants to the harsh realities of poverty, sparking a dialogue on the path toward positive transformation.

For more information, please contact Sharva Hampton-Campbell at shamcamp@illinois.edu.

Sponsors: School of Social Work, 2025 MLK Commemorative Planning Committee, and the Champaign Urbana Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Registration is required.

Coffee and Conversation (Debriefing)

February 13, 2025, 6 PM
School of Social Work, Room 2015
1010 W. Nevada St, Urbana, IL

Please register to attend.

Perspectives Unveiled: Participants will engage in a reflective dialogue following the Immersive Simulated Experience, providing a space to share their thoughts and feelings.  In this forward-looking dialogue, participants will collaboratively explore potential avenues for change within themselves and their local communities. 

For more information, please contact Sharva Hampton-Campbell at shamcamp@illinois.edu.

Sponsors: School of Social Work, and the Champaign Urbana Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.