Wright State to hold inaugural Martin Luther King, Jr. march, rally

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King

Wright State University will hold its first Martin Luther King, Jr. march and rally Jan. 18 to honor the late civil-rights leader and underscore the importance of diversity and unity.

Participants will begin the march at 12:15 p.m. at five different campus locations and meet at Turning Points, the big red sculpture in the middle of campus. From there, they will march to the Student Union and hold a rally in the Apollo Room, where they will hear speeches from student leaders and other speakers.

“We’ve always been going to downtown Dayton to do the march,” said organizer Aaron Stokes, a senior biomedical engineering student from Dayton. “We just felt this year, why not also have something on campus that would affect the whole student and university population?”

Starting points for the march are in front of Laurel Hall in The Woods, at the main doors of the Dunbar Library, at the main doors of Russ Engineering, in front of the Community Center on Forest Lane and in front of the C-Store in College Park.

The participants are asked to march in silence.

“We are representing the voices that are not easily heard,” said Stokes. “That just goes back to people who have been discriminated against in our community and our world, people with disabilities, women, minorities.”

Stokes said the march is open to the public and that members of the community are encouraged to participate.

On Jan. 17, Wright State will present the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Distinguished Service Awards to Joan Chappelle, Tony Ortiz, Sharon Lynette Jones, Galen Crawford and Aaron Stokes. The ceremony will begin at 6 p.m. in the Student Union Apollo Room.

King–a clergyman, activist and prominent leader of the African-American Civil Rights Movement–received the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end racial discrimination. He was assassinated in 1968. In 1986, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a U.S. federal holiday.