Martin Luther King, Jr., Day 2010 events include a concert

Elson Floyd, president of Washington State University in Pullman, will speak on “It Started with a Dream:  Many Views, One Vision,” the theme for the 2010 Martin Luther King, Jr., Day commemorative celebration from 4 to 6 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 17, at First Presbyterian Church, 318 S. Cedar.

A new event for 2010 is the MLK Jr. Family Outreach Center Scholarship Fund Raiser, a Gospel musical called, “How Sweet the Sound.”  The concert is from 5 to 7 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 16, at the Holy Temple Church of God in Christ, 806 W. Indiana.

The Annual Unity March will begin at 10 a.m., Monday, Jan. 18, at the INB Performing Arts Center, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.

After the march, the Community Resource Fair with displays of area nonprofits and service organizations will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., on the second and third floors of River Park Square.  At the same time, there is a Children’s Learning Resource Fair on the second floor of the Spokane Transit Authority Plaza, 701 W. Riverside.

Elson, who has been president of the four-campus WSU since 2007, came to WSU after serving four years as president of the four-campus University of Missouri and four years as president of Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo.  At Kalamazoo, he taught counselor education. counseling psychology, teaching, learning and leadership.

From 1995 to 1998, he was at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in administration.  Prior to that he was executive director of the Washington State Higher Education Coordinating Board and vice president for student services/administration at Eastern Washington University.

The native of Henderson, N.C., earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and speech in 1978, a master’s degree in education in 1982  and a doctoral degree in higher and adult education in 1984 from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

In November 2008, seeking to “lead by example,” Elson took a $100,000 salary reduction.  In June 2009, he announced an additional 5 percent cut in response to the state budget crisis.

Organizers for the Martin Luther King, Jr., Day events include the Rev. Happy Watkins, Ivan Bush and the Martin Luther King, Jr., Family Outreach Center.

For information, call 455-8722.

 

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