Rio Salado College will be closed on Monday, Jan. 15, in honor of Martin Luther King Day. Each year our country celebrates the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King’s pioneering and heroic efforts as a civil rights leader paved the way for the overturning of discriminatory laws and inspired millions of people across the world to advocate for themselves. The world may have lost a brilliant man in Memphis on April 4, 1968, but his example and his philosophies continue to live on.
Over the last five years Rio Salado College has been proud to host annual MLK celebrations in which students, faculty, and community members can come together to reflect on the man’s continuing legacy. Sustaining the Dream through Service—this year’s sixth annual celebration—will include two components: A main livestream event with student perspectives and testimonies about the impact of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on their own lives, as well as an in-person march.
We will host the livestream presentation, which is open to students, employees and the community, from 3:30 to 4:10 p.m. Following closure of the livestream, we will host an in-person march at 4:20 p.m. from the Rio Salado conference center to the Rio Salado amphitheater for a recital of Dr. King’s I Have a Dream Speech. We hope you will join us for this event in some way.
Register online today for the livestream and mark your calendar for Jan. 18. No registration is needed for the in-person march.
This event is presented by Rio Salado’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Committee to help foster a culture that values and honors everyone's unique qualities with respect and dignity. If you need accommodations for the livestream event, please contact kevyn.miller@riosalado.edu by Jan. 15.
Please note: The livestream portion of the event will be recorded to share with the public.
Learn More About MLK
Interested in finding out more about Dr. King’s life and work? Our Rio Salado library staff have put together an informative guide about MLK Day. This includes videos of some of his most famous speeches, the HBO documentary King in the Wilderness, a timeline of the man's life, a biography, and more!