The University will be closed December 19, 2024 to January 5, 2025. If you need assistance during that time, please call 1-855-OWU-1842 and leave a detailed voicemail along with your contact information. One of our colleagues will respond to your call as soon as possible.
If you would like to make a 2024 gift, please make your gift before midnight on December 31.
We cordially invite you to join us for the 2025 Delaware County Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration. This event promises to be an unforgettable blend of commemoration, introspection, fun, and love in action.
The theme is drawn from the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1967 speech "Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community" during which Dr. King proclaimed, "The plant of freedom has grown only a bud, and not yet a flower." The statement eloquently reminds us that although important progress has been made, the fight for civil rights has not yet reached full bloom.
Our 2025 keynote speaker is Dr. Valerie Lee, a retired professor of English and former chair of three Ohio State University academic departments – English, Women's Studies (now Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies), and African American and African Studies.
Dr. Lee also served a five-year term as the university's Chief Diversity Officer and Vice Provost of Diversity and Inclusion, and a three-year term as Vice President of Outreach and Engagement.
Her latest book, "Sisterlocking Discoarse: Race, Gender, and the Twenty-First-Century Academy," was a finalist for the 2021 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award in the Education Category.
Also highlighting the celebration, the Columbus Adventist Academy Children's Choir will perform, directed by Tamaria Kulemeka.
We're proud to announce that our community's commitment to education has resulted in over $35,000 in scholarships awarded to local students since 1990. Your participation will help us expand this initiative, creating more opportunities for our aspiring graduates.
Please don't miss this chance to honor Dr. King's vision, celebrate our community's strength, and invest in tomorrow's leaders.
Tickets are available now for online purchase through Jan. 10.
We look forward to seeing you on January 20, 2025!
In Community,
The Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Committee
Jason Timpson, chair