schedule of activities
The 5th annual Case MLK Day Student Luncheon and Symposium is designed to honor the spirit and dream of Dr. King. This year's event will kick off with a luncheon and viewing of a brief documentary on the life and legacy of Dr. King.
The rest of the afternoon features a conference-style format where students will select from a menu of activities. The program will be interactive, and our goal is that these discussions will help us focus on a shared goal of building a culture of respect, tolerance, and integrity on our campus.
Welcome/Lunch
12:00 pm
Documentary: Citizen King
"This is not a film about the last days of a great leader.
Rather, it is the story of a man losing fear, gaining courage and becoming great."
—Acclaimed filmmaker Orlando Bagwell
Late Afternoon Breakout Session
(participants will select one of the following sessions):
Dr. King's Moral Vision: "Letter from Birmingham Jail"
Presenter, Dr. Bill Deal, Professor, Religious Studies, CWRU
In the "Letter from Birmingham Jail," Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. outlines a vision for a morally just world.
Although the letter deals with specific events connected with Dr. King's life and with the 1960s civil rights
movement, it expresses a larger view of an ethical and just world.
Among the moral problems Dr. King raises in the letter are issues of equality, just and unjust laws, civil
disobedience and non-violence, and privilege and prejudice. Thus, the letter is not only a statement about the
injustices suffered by a particular people at a historically specific time and place, but a call for a universal
human morality.
In this session, we will discuss the importance of Dr. King's moral vision as expressed in the "Letter from Birmingham Jail and assess its significance for the contemporary world.
Please prepare for this session by reading Dr. King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail"
No Easy Walk to Freedom, But What A Vista! Engaging The Challenge of MLK's Integrated Vision for Economic Justice, Nonviolent Peacemaking, and Overcoming Racism
Presenters: Sue Helper, Chair of the Economics Department and AT&T Professor of Economics, CWRU Randy Schutt, Instructor in Kent State University's Center for Applied Conflict Management and author of Inciting Democracy: A Practical Proposal for Creating a Good Society
Using participative methods and current data, engage some of the challenges and inspiration that motivated MLK, yet still call us today to take up our part for creating a better world.
Through the Looking Glass in Black and White: Whose Perception is Reality?
Racial Fairness Today and the Criminal Justice System
A careful examination of why the primary minority groups in the US distrust the criminal justice system by Cleveland Municipal Court Presiding Judge Ronald B. Adrine, Chair of the Ohio Commission on Racial Fairness, and lead facilitator of Ohio's required New Judges Orientation course on "Diversity and Racial Fairness in the Courts" which is now mandated by the Ohio Supreme Court.
The perception that courts treat defendants differently based on such factors as race and ethnicity will not just go away - it must be confronted with data and appropriate reforms of the criminal justice system. Come dialogue with a national leader, and consider how far we've come and where we are going with racial fairness in this region and this country.
Closing Activity: The Dream Quilt
3:30 pm
Participants will create their own personal quilt square containing their dream for campus, Cleveland, or the world. This quilt will become an ongoing project every year as part of the MLK Week Celebration and will be on display from Tuesday-Friday in the Thwing Atrium.