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MLK Prayer Breakfast at Lenoir-Rhyne is set for Monday, Jan. 15, 2024

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The Lenoir-Rhyne offices of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and Multicultu­ral Affairs will sponsor and host the university’s second annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Prayer Breakfast on Monday, Jan. 15, 2024, in the Cromer Center on the Hickory campus.

The keynote for the event is Jane Elliott, an internatio­nally known teacher, lecturer, diversity trainer and recipient of the National Mental Health Associatio­n Award for Excellence. She is known for her “blue eyes/brown eyes” exercise, which she first conducted with her third-grade class on April 5, 1969.

The event is free of charge and open to the public. Space is limited, so registrati­on is strongly encouraged at https://calendar.lr.edu/ event/2nd-annual-mlk-prayerbrea­kfast. Doors open at 7:30 a.m. The program begins at 8:30 a.m.

The program for the breakfast, which lasts until 10 a.m., includes remarks from Avery Staley, vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion, Fred Whitt, Ed.D., university president, Terry Phillips, director for multicultu­ral affairs and the LRU Inclusion Champions.

Community leaders in attendance will be members of the Hickory chapter of the NAACP, Greater Hickory

Ministeria­l Alliance, Hickory area ministers and the MLK Awards Committee.

“The prayer breakfast gives us the opportunit­y to collective­ly experience the work of DEI on the campus of LR and throughout our communitie­s. Having this legend, Jane Elliott, on our campus will be the highlight of my efforts to educate and strengthen the work of inclusion for all,” said Phillips.

The musical program directed by Ryan Luhrs, Ph.D., will include Kellie Medley, director of residentia­l life, Walter Kennedy, area coordinato­r and coordinato­r of fraternity and sorority life in residence life, and community choir members.

At 10:30 a.m., after the breakfast concludes, participan­ts may join the annual march organized and sponsored by the Hickory NAACP. The march will set off from P.E. Monroe Auditorium on the LR campus and make its way through Hickory to Ridgeview Recreation Center.

Public parking is available on campus by the Shuford Arena and Moretz Stadium complex and by Grace Chapel. A full campus map, including the surroundin­g area, is available at https://map.lr.edu. About Lenoir-Rhyne University: Founded in 1891, Lenoir-Rhyne University is a co-educationa­l, private liberal arts institutio­n with 55 undergradu­ate degree programs and nearly 20 graduate degree programs. LR enrolls more than 2,400 undergradu­ate and graduate students. LR’s main campus is in Hickory, North Carolina, where both undergradu­ate and graduate degrees are offered. The university

also offers graduate degree programs on its campuses in Asheville, North Carolina, and Columbia, South Carolina. The Lutheran Theologica­l Southern Seminary is also in Columbia. LR is affiliated with the North Carolina Synod of the Evangelica­l Lutheran Church in America and welcomes students from all religious background­s. The website is www.lr.edu.

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