Ohio Wesleyan, Delaware To Observe 2016 Martin Luther King Day
Jan. 17-18 Community Events to Focus on ‘The Strength to Love – ALL’
DELAWARE, Ohio – Ohio Wesleyan University and the Delaware County Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Committee invite the community to explore compassion, tolerance, and “The Strength to Love – ALL” during the 2016 observance of King’s legacy.
The observance will begin at 3 p.m. Jan. 17 with the 31st annual worship service at Zion A.M.E. (African Methodist Episcopal) Church, 140 S. Washington St., Delaware. The featured speaker will be the Rev. Curnell Graham of Linworth United Methodist Church in Columbus. Graham has been serving as Linworth’s lead pastor since summer 2015. He earned his Master of Divinity from Duke University in 1987.
Delaware’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. observance will continue at 7:45 a.m. Jan. 18 with the 23rd annual MLK Breakfast Celebration in the Benes Room of Ohio Wesleyan’s Hamilton-Williams Campus Center, 40 Rowland Ave., Delaware. Tickets are available now.
The featured speaker will be Gregory L. Moore, editor of The Denver Post and a 1976 OWU graduate. During his award-winning career, Moore has been named the National Press Foundation’s “Benjamin C. Bradlee Editor of the Year” and received both the Journalist of the Year Award from the New England Chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Black Journalists.
A journalism and politics and government double major at Ohio Wesleyan, Moore joined The Denver Post in 2002, leading the newspaper, to date, to four Pulitzer Prizes. He previously worked at The Boston Globe, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer, and The (Dayton) Journal Herald in roles ranging from reporter to city editor to managing editor.
At Ohio Wesleyan, Moore has provided support for the Butler A. Jones House of Black Culture, the Willa B. Player Black Resource Center, a mission trip to Ghana, and other OWU initiatives. He also has mentored students at Ohio Wesleyan and elsewhere, preparing them to become insightful, impactful journalists. For his mentoring, Moore earned the 2012 Alumni of the Year Award from Ohio Wesleyan’s Office of Multicultural Student Affairs.
Artwork created by pupils from Delaware City Schools also will be on display at the MLK breakfast to help recognize and celebrate King’s legacy.
The Jan. 18 breakfast buffet will begin at 7:45 a.m., followed by the program at 8:30 a.m. Individual breakfast tickets are $20, with eight-person table sponsorships available for $160. Checks payable to “Ohio Wesleyan University/MLK Celebration” may be mailed the OWU Chaplain’s Office, 61 S. Sandusky St., Delaware, Ohio 43015. Reservations and payment are requested before Jan. 8. A limited number of tickets may be available at the door. Proceeds support college scholarships for local students of color. For more information, contact the OWU Chaplain’s Office at (740) 368-3083 or chaplain@owu.edu.
Founded in 1842, Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation’s premier liberal arts universities. Located in Delaware, Ohio, the private university offers 86 undergraduate majors and competes in 23 NCAA Division III varsity sports. Ohio Wesleyan combines a challenging, internationally focused curriculum with off-campus learning and leadership opportunities to connect classroom theory with real-world experience. OWU’s 1,675 students represent 43 U.S. states and territories and 33 countries. Ohio Wesleyan is featured in the book “Colleges That Change Lives,” listed on the latest President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction, and included in the U.S. News & World Report and Princeton Review “best colleges” lists. Learn more at www.owu.edu.