MLK Commemoration
2024 MLK Celebration, Wednesday Jan 24
MLK Celebration: Dream it. Believe it. Do it. Developing Leaders for Tomorrow
Location: UNCG Elliott University Center, Cone Ballroom (507 Stirling St, Greensboro, NC)
*Free and open to the public. There will be ASL interpreters.
Time: 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.
Free parking in the Walker Parking Deck at 506 Stirling St, Greensboro, NC. Take a ticket when you enter the garage and exit will be free.
UNCG, N.C. A&T, Guilford College, Guilford Technical Community College (GTCC), and Greensboro College are teaming up to present the 12th annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration on Wednesday, Jan. 24, at 7 p.m. at UNCG’s Elliott University Center in the Cone Ballroom.
This year’s theme is “Dream it. Believe it. Do it. Developing Leaders for Tomorrow.” The event will be an interactive discussion about Black activism today.
For more accommodation requests or further information, please contact the UNCG Office of Intercultural Engagement at 336-334-5090 or engage@uncg.edu.
Listing of past Keynote Speakers and MLK Service Award Winners
| YEAR | THEME | SERVICE AWARD WINNER |
| 20242023 | Dream it. Believe it. Do it.Envisioning Our Future | Alhanna Cancel-Roman Tyhrah Buissereth |
| 2022 | Aja Boyd and Edmond Gayton | |
| YEAR | KEYNOTE SPEAKER | SERVICE AWARD WINNER |
| 2021 | Not Awarded | |
| 2020 | Natalie Warne | Mahlik Conley |
| 2019 | Ilyasah Shabazz | Jamie Wharton |
| 2018 | Payton Head | Payton McGarry |
| 2017 | DeRay Mckesson | Sherrill Roland |
| 2016 | Julianne Malveaux | Kaziah Miller |
| 2015 | Sonia Sanchez | Kaziah Miller |
| 2014 | Jeff Johnson | Kelton Hollister (Student) |
| 2013 | Dick Gregory | Aisha Crawford (Student) |
| 2012 | Elaine Brown | Parker Hurley (Student) |
| 2011 | Dr. Terrence Roberts | Kent L. Singletary (Student) |
| 2010 | Dr. Mae Jemison | Zimuzor Ugochukwu (Student) |
| 2009 | Rev. Al Sharpton | Wanda Torain (Undergraduate Admissions) |
| 2008 | Bernice A. King | Brandon Nnodi (Student) |
| 2007 | Dr. Joseph Lowery, civil rights activist | Dr. Spoma Jovanovic (Communication Studies) |
| 2006 | Angela Davis, Black Panther, UC Berkeley, etc. | Rhonda Robinson (Student) |
| 2005 | Julian Bond, NAACP Chairman, former Georgia senator | Kathleen Casey (Educational Leadership & Cultural Foundations) |
| 2004 | Franklin McCain, one of Greensboro Four | Dauvell Evans (Student) |
| 2003 | Rev. Samuel “Billy” Kyles, Pastor, Monumental Baptist Church, Memphis; was with MLK Jr. during last hour | Patricia J. Bowden (Religious Studies) |
| 2002 | Dr. Jocelyn Elders, first African American woman to be US Surgeon General | Joette Nicole McLaurin (Student) |
| 2001 | Herman Boone, former football coach; inspiration for “Remember the Titans” | Erma Totten (Service Worker, Cone Residence Hall) |
| 2000 | David Dinkins, former mayor of NYC | Robert Earl Randolph, Jr. (Student) |
| 1999 | Manning Marable, historian and author; Professor, Columbia | Patricia L. Bailey (Director, Disability Services) |
| 1998 | Myrlie Evers-Williams, Chair, NAACP; widow of Medgar Evers | Jeffrey Thigpen (Student) |
| 1997 | Shirley Chisholm, former US Representative | Lenora A. Richardson |
| 1996 | Dr. Michael K. Honey | Deardre R. Johnson (Student) |
| 1995 | Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, Professor of Communications Studies at UNC-CH | Darrell Wheeler |
| 1994 | Dr. George Subira | Patrice N. Vinson (Student) |
| 1993 | Ms. Naomi Tutu | Carolyn Moore |
| 1992 | Dr. James Cone | Daniel T. “J J” McEachern (Student) |
| 1991 | Rev. Tyrone Crider | Odessa Patrick (Biology) |
| 1990 | Mary Berry | William R. McNeely, Jr. (Student) |
| 1989 | Rev. Ralph Abernathy, associate of MLK Jr. and leader of SCLC | Ernestine Small (Nursing) |
| 1988 | John Lewis, Congressman, Georgia | Bradley Mitchell (Student) |
| 1987 | Dick Gregory, comedian and political activist | Joseph Himes (Sociology) |