2023 Celebration

FEATURING KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY OLYMPIAN AND CIVIL RIGHTS ICON TOMMIE SMITH

2023 Celebration

Tommie Smith

Thank you for a great MLK week celebration!

2023 MLK Week Schedule

A Conversation with Brian Stokes Mitchell | Jan. 18
Engage Lincoln | Jan. 23-27
Late Night Dish It Up: Divine Nine Edition | Jan. 24
MLK Commemorative Celebration | Jan. 25
Inclusive Teaching Strategies that Foster an Anti-Racist Classroom | Jan. 27
APU MLK Banquet | Jan. 28

This year’s MLK Commemoration Celebration was Wednesday, January 25 and featured a keynote address from Tommie Smith and the awarding of the annual Chancellor’s “Fulfilling the Dream” Award. 

Tommie Smith is a world record breaking gold medal Olympian and civil rights icon. During the 1968 summer Olympics, Tommie Smith broke the world and Olympic record with a time of 19.83 seconds and became the 200-meter Olympic champion. As the Star-Spangled Banner played in the wind at the Mexico City ceremonies, Tommie Smith and John Carlos stood on the victory podium, draped with their Olympic medals, each raised a clinched fist covered in a black leather glove in a historic stand for black power, liberation and solidarity.

Read Tommie Smith's full bio

A conversation with Brian Stokes Mitchell

Dr. Nkenge Friday, Senior Assistant Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Inclusion, facilitated a moderated conversation with two-time Tony Award® winner Brian Stokes Mitchell. Friday and Stokes’ conversation was centered on Black theatre in America, the work of Black Theatre United, and Stokes acclaimed career!

Learn more about Brian Stokes Mitchell