Delaware, Ohio — Ohio Wesleyan University and the Delaware County Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Committee will observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day with a special weeklong program exploring the theme of "One Humanity!"

The 2009 celebration will begin with the 24th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day worship service at 3 p.m., Sunday, January 18, at Asbury United Methodist Church, 55 W. Lincoln Ave.

This year's worship service will feature youth programming to help Delaware's youngest residents become more involved in learning about, celebrating, and emulating the King legacy, said Rosalind Scott, chair of the celebration committee.

"It is important for them to learn that the power of their convictions and commitment toward injustice and inequality can bring about change regardless of their age," Scott said. "We hope to awaken and inspire coalition-building between racial and cultural groups promoting and embracing diversity and the realization that we are just 'One Humanity!' "

During the January 18 service, Delaware City Schools students will display original artworks depicting the theme of "One Humanity!" and students in Jayne Marcum's third-grade class at Smith Elementary School will perform "Greensboro Lunch Counter Sit-In," a reading theatre presentation.

Speakers at the worship service will include Bishop Judith Craig, bishop-in-residence and visiting professor of church leadership at Methodist Theological School in Ohio, and Florine Jordan-Gray, a 1995 Ohio Wesleyan graduate and local community leader. Jordan-Gray and her husband, George, operated the former AL-EVA's Learning Center, which tutored and mentored local teen-agers.

The 2009 MLK celebration will continue on Monday, January 19, with the 16th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day breakfast celebration at 8 a.m. in the Benes Rooms of Ohio Wesleyan's Hamilton-Williams Campus Center, 40 Rowland Ave. The Rev. Dr. Vergel L. Lattimore III of Methodist Theological School will serve as keynote speaker. Lattimore is the Leon A. Beeghly Chair of Pastoral Care and director of the Master of Arts in Counseling Ministries program at the Delaware-based theological school. Individual breakfast tickets are $20, with eight-person table sponsorships available for $160. For reservations, contact Scott at (740) 368-3386. Reservations are requested by January 5, but tickets also will be available at the door.

Additional "One Humanity!" observances on the Ohio Wesleyan campus will include the following events, coordinated by the President's Commission on Racial and Cultural Diversity. Unless otherwise noted, all events will take place in Hamilton-Williams Campus Center. All events are free and open to the public.

Monday, January 19

• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. — Local shops will display and sell wares throughout the Atrium and lower-level of Hamilton-Williams Campus Center.
• Noon — Dale W. Larson, Ph.D., assistant professor of economics, will discuss the state of the economy and its impact on 2009 graduates, in Benes Room B.
• 6:30 p.m. — The Bravo-Buckeye Region Anti-Violence Organization will present "Shades of Discrimination," addressing issues of importance to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community, in Benes Room B.

Tuesday, January 20

• 10 a.m. — Community viewings of the Barack Obama presidential inauguration will be held simultaneously in the Crider Lounge of Hamilton-Williams Campus Center and in the Internet Café of Beeghly Library, 43 Rowland Ave.
• 6:30 p.m. — Emmanuel K. Twesigye, Ph.D., professor of religion and black world studies, will discuss "President Barack Obama and Dr. M.L. King's Dream: Myth and Reality," in Benes Room B.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

• Noon — Judylyn S. Ryan, Ph.D., associate professor of English and black world studies, will explore the changing attitudes toward interracial relationships, including how and why such marriages have gained acceptance and what, if anything, this tells us about race relations in America, in Benes Room B.
• 6:30 p.m. — The Improve Coffee Café will present "Diversity Training Through Drama," facilitated by Karen Fasheun, diversity/inclusion coordinator for Time Warner Cable, and featuring Ohio Wesleyan performing arts students, in Benes Room B.

Thursday, January 22

• Noon — Minister Eric Marshall of Morning Star Tabernacle will discuss the responsibilities, privileges, and challenges of being male, in Benes Room B.
• 6:30 p.m. — Ohio Wesleyan students, faculty, and staff along with members of the Delaware community will present "Stars In Our Midst," a program of vision, hope, and dreams incorporating music, dance, and other means of expressing diversity as well as "One Humanity!" in Benes Room B.

Program details are tentative and subject to change. For the latest Martin Luther King Jr. and "One Humanity!" events, including times and locations, visit www.owu.edu/mlk.