Miami University will hold a week of service and reflection events from Jan. 28-Feb. 3 to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., which includes a week-long food drive and a Jan. 31 silent march and reception. 

Starting at Oxford Uptown Parks at 4:30 p.m., the silent march features select speakers from Miami and the community for commemoration and reflection. The march continues to Armstrong Student Center where a reception and keynote address by Anastasia Curwood, chair and professor of History at the University of Kentucky, will be held at 5:30 in Wilks Theater.

The City of Oxford and the Oxford NAACP celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day with “A Testament of Hope: What Does It Look Like?” on Jan. 15, at the Oxford Community Arts Center. 

The community conversation, moderated by Vanessa Cummings, vice president of Oxford’s NAACP, included Tekeia Howard, director of programming for Miami’s Office of Transformational and Inclusive Excellence. The observance also featured community voices from Bethel AME, Hopedale Unitarian Universalist Community, the League of Women Voters of Oxford, Oxford Area Solutions for Housing, Oxford Citizens for Peace and Justice, and the Oxford NAACP.

Ronald Scott, who served as Miami’s vice president for institutional diversity and retired in 2020 after 32 years at the university, gave the call to action.