Office of the Registrar

From: Office of Institutional Diversity

Dear Oregon State students:

The Office of Institutional Diversity is honored to host the 42nd annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration at Oregon State University.

The Commemoration will open on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024 with the annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Saturday of Service, hosted by Community Engagement & Leadership, and close with the Commemoration keynote address on Wednesday, Jan. 31. The Peace Breakfast and March will be Monday, Jan. 15.

Scholar Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor is the 2024 keynote speaker

Keeanga-Yamahatta Taylor will serve as this year’s Commemoration keynote speaker. Taylor is a scholar, author and activist, addressing Black politics, social movements and racial inequality in the United States. She is the Hughes-Rogers Professor of African American studies at Princeton University and a contributing writer at The New Yorker.

She is a 2021 MacArthur Foundation Fellow, and recently authored “Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership”. Her talk will address the intersections of race and class in the pursuit of Black liberation. 

Taylor’s keynote address will be delivered on Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. in the LaSells Stewart Center on the Corvallis campus and streamed online. Registration is free and required.

Accommodation requests related to a disability for the keynote event should be made by Jan. 20 to University Events at 541-737-4717 or [email protected]. Sign language interpreting and live captioning will be provided.

Submit a Legacy Award nomination by Dec. 8

We are pleased to invite your nominations for the 2024 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration Legacy Awards.  

Nominations will be accepted for four awards – the Phyllis S. Lee Award, the Frances Dancy Hooks Award, the Oscar Humberto Montemayor Award and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Alumni Legacy Award. Each award is accompanied by a $500 stipend.

To learn more about these awards, and to submit a nomination, please visit the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration Legacy Awards website.

Award nominations will be accepted until Dec. 8, 2023. Recipients will be announced at the Peace Breakfast.

Organize a Commemoration event by Dec. 22

An important part of the annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration are events organized by Oregon State community members across the state to collaboratively carry on the legacy of Dr. King. Events in the past have included art shows, spoken word performances, interfaith celebrations, workshops, dialogues, lectures, panels and marches—just to name a few.

Colleges, departments, units, offices, clubs and individuals breathe life into the Commemoration by organizing events throughout the week. Oregon State community members are encouraged to work together to plan and host events. Event assistance may be available through the Office of Institutional Diversity; please contact us at [email protected].

Please visit the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration Events website to submit your event. Event submissions will be accepted until Dec. 22, 2023.

Register for the Peace Breakfast by Jan. 5

All Oregon State community members are invited to observe Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day at the annual Peace Breakfast on Monday, Jan. 15, in the CH2M HILL Alumni Center on the Corvallis campus. Registration is free and required by Sunday, Jan. 5. Childcare will be provided at no cost by KidSpirit.

Following the breakfast, all are invited to join in a peace march, led by OSU students, beginning at 11 a.m. along a 1-mile route concluding at the SEC Plaza with a brief program and refreshments. 

Accommodation requests related to a disability for the breakfast and march events should be made by Jan. 9 to University Events at 541-737-4717 or [email protected]. 

For more information on the 2024 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration, please contact Miguel Arellano Sanchez, assistant director of outreach and chair of the event planning committee, via email, [email protected].

Warm regards,

The 2024 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration Committee, Office of Institutional Diversity