Below, please find a schedule of events for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Week at WSU. Together, these events aim to highlight the importance of sustainability, justice, and unity—reflecting Dr. King’s enduring legacy of hope, resilience, and positive change for all.
Friday, January 17
| Time | Location | Event |
|---|---|---|
| Noon | Locations vary | Caring Cards Join WSU students, faculty, staff, and alumni in commemorating Martin Luther King Jr. Day by coming together, both in person at each campus and virtually on Zoom, to participate in creating greeting cards adorned with handwritten words of kindness, destined for local community partners. Community partners include organizations like local hospitals, teen shelters, assisted living homes, and charities. |
Monday, January 20
| Time | Location | Event |
|---|---|---|
| Times vary | Locations vary | National Day of Service Join the Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) and get involved in your community to make a difference for the MLK Jr. National Day of Service. The CCE has many projects throughout the week, and we hope you find something here that inspires you. Learn more about service opportunities. |
Tuesday, January 21: National Day of Racial Healing
| Time | Location | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 9:10 to 10:30 a.m. | Zoom Webinar (registration required) | One WSU Program Welcome and Faculty Panel Discussion Ashley Boyd will moderate a faculty panel on “Bridging Divides to Sustainability” with Julia Carboni, Imran Haider, Jessica Perone, and Amina Hussein. Provost Chris Riley-Tillman will provide opening remarks. Register for the Panel Discussion |
| 12:05 to 1:00 p.m. | Chinook 20 (WSU Pullman) and via Zoom | Free University Recreation Class Gentle Yoga (Hybrid) |
| 1:45 to 2:45 p.m. | Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art Pavilion Gallery and livestreamed | Writers Give Voice: Reading and Open Mic In “Writers Give Voice,” the museum and English Department will host a reading and open mic program in response to the theme of the day, “Keep on Pushing: Building Bridges to Sustainability.” Readers will include WSU Campus Civic Poets and Finalists, creative writing students and faculty, and student editors of WSU creative writing publications. All students, faculty, staff, and community members are invited to bring a poem to read during the open mic portion. Poems may be original compositions or selected from the work of another author, though they should engage with the themes of the day. Before and after the program, visitors are encouraged to view current museum exhibitions, including The Art of Food: From the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation and Your Collection: Faculty Remix. In collaboration with the Holland Terrell Library’s Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, the event will be accompanied by the opportunity to complete a letterpress printing of a relevant poem. |
| 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. | Zoom Webinar (registration required) | Making Space for Healing and Community Somatic Yoga Join us via Zoom for this 1-hour somatic yoga session, led by Tara from the Bhakti Yoga Movement Center. This session is designed to be a safe and welcoming space for WSU participants to move, to connect, and to make room to experience healing and community–wherever they are. |
WSU Pullman
| Time | Location | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 9:00 to 9:45 a.m. | Chinook 30 | Free University Recreation Class Pilates |
| 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. | CUB | Healing Wall Mural Healing wall mural led by Jiemei Lin. Details forthcoming. |
| 12:10 to 1:00 p.m. | Terrell Library Atrium | Drum Circle Drum circle performance led by Darryl Singleton. Drum circles bring people together. The act of drumming is not just cathartic for the individual; we are reminded of our connection to those around us and how beautiful life can be when we interact from a place of collaboration and support rather than confrontation and self-centeredness. This is the essence of the National Day of Racial Healing. We invite you to put hand to drum to create vibrations that will resonate through each soul in the circle and outward through campus, community, region, and nation. |
| 3:00 to 3:50 p.m. | Chinook 22 | Free University Recreation Class Intro to Yoga |
| 4:00 to 4:45 p.m. | SRC 245 | Free University Recreation Class SOULkickboxing |
WSU Tri-Cities
| Time | Location | Event |
|---|---|---|
| Noon to 1 p.m. | TCIC 120 | Lunch and Learn with Counseling and Wellness Build community through comida & conversation. During this time, you will get to know your campus colleagues, peers and share your vision of a racial-free world that achieves racial equity and justice through the dialogue of Connexions. |
| 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. | TFLO 140 | Poetry Slam with BSU, MOSAIC Center, and Anyla McDonald Poet Anyla McDonald will share and perform pieces from her book, Black Joy & Black Tribulations: Poems, Short Stories, and Essay. Following, there will be a poetry slam open to campus and surrounding colleges. |
WSU Vancouver
| Time | Location | Event |
|---|---|---|
| Noon to 2:00 p.m. | Firstenberg Student Commons | Hip-Hop Education Workshop Celebrate National Day of Racial Healing by joining a hip-hop education workshop with a decolonized, African and Black-focused equity lens. The workshop will be led by Amber Boydston from Ease & Abundance, LLC. |
WSU Everett
| Time | Location | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. | Student Success Center | Macramé Activity: Braiding our Stories Robin Wall Kimmerer urges us to consider the many parts of ourselves that are woven together and that make us strong, resilient, and beautiful. Reflecting on her experience weaving a black ash basket, she writes, “[The baskets] are all made of the same stuff yet each is itself. That’s the way it is with . . . people , too, all made of the same thing and each their own kind of beautiful.” Come engage in a short reflective activity and create a simple macramé key chain that symbolizes for you the strands of self you honor and value. All materials and lunch provided. |
Wednesday, January 22
| Time | Location | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. | CUB Auditorium, WSU Pullman | Film: American Fiction In partnership with the Student Entertainment Board, please join us for two film showings of American Fiction. American Fiction is Cord Jefferson’s hilarious directorial debut, which confronts our culture’s obsession with reducing people to outrageous stereotypes. |
Thursday, January 23
| Time | Location | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 5:30 p.m. | CUB Senior Ballroom, WSU Pullman and Livestreamed | WSU MLK Keynote Celebration The WSU MLK Keynote Celebration will feature keynote speaker Rhonda V. Magee, a distinguished advocate for mindfulness and social justice. The celebration will also include musical performances by God’s Harmony, the Campus Civic Poet Winner, Krimson Kouture, and the presentation of the newly revamped MLK Legacy Awards, recognizing individuals and groups who embody Dr. King’s vision for the Beloved Community through their work in service, nonviolence, and social justice. Register for the Keynote Celebration and Livestream Link |