Martin Luther King Jr. Event 2017

2017 Martin Luther King Jr. Event

Guest Speaker: Sylvia Mendez, Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient, American Civil Rights Activist

DESCRIPTION

The Martin Luther King Jr. Event is our annual celebration of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Please join us as we hear from Sylvia Mendez (Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient) as she talks about her family’s fight to desegregate schools in the 1940s. Sylvia will discuss how her landmark case Mendez v. Westminister is connected to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and how she continues working on making his Dream a reality.

Mendez v. Westminister began in 1946 and was ruled upon in 1947 at the federal court level. This case challenged racial segregation in Orange County, California schools. Through this case it was held that the segregation of Mexican and Mexican American students into separate schools was unconstitutional. This landmark case was the first ruling in the United States in favor of desegregation (Brown v. Board of Education was decided upon by the US Supreme Court in 1954).

During this event we will also be presenting our Creating the Dream Award which recognizes the outstanding efforts of an individual, organization, or department at Suffolk University in services to Suffolk’s students of color.

A reception with light appetizers will immediately to follow the program. Please RSVP to both the presentation and reception. Limited space available to the reception.

The event is open to the Suffolk University community including faculty, staff, students, and alumni. Please bring your Suffolk ID and e-tickets to the event.