CLEMSON, SC - Clemson University will celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with a number of events, including a day of community service, a commemorative march and keynote speaker Samuel DuBois Cook (pictured).

The celebration begins with a piece of South Carolina civil rights history: a photo exhibit by Cecil Williams on the Orangeburg Massacre. The exhibit in the R.M. Cooper Library opens Thursday, Jan. 17, with a book signing by Williams at 3 p.m. The exhibit will run through Wednesday, Jan. 23.

Also on Jan. 17, area high school students will compete in an oratorical contest at 6 p.m. in McKissick Theatre. Their speeches must reflect this year’s MLK celebration theme: “A Day to Dream… A Lifetime to Act.”

On Monday, Jan. 21, Clemson University students and employees will use their day off to help the community with the annual MLK Day of Services. Hundreds of volunteers will help out at agencies such as Clemson Child Development Center, Goodwill, the Salvation Army and Pickens County Prevent Child Abuse from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. People can also contribute by donating blood at the Blood Connection’s MLK Blood Drive from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Hendrix Student Center.

Children in kindergarten through sixth grade can have fun while they learn about Martin Luther King at the Educational Olympics from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Jan. 21 at the Clemson-Central Indoor Recreation Center. Children can test their knowledge about King with games such as “KINGO” (like BINGO) and trivia and burn some energy with basketball, flag football and tug-of-war.

The MLK celebration will cap off with the annual march and commemorative service Tuesday, Jan. 22. A pre-march rally, featuring student speakers and singers, will be held at 5 p.m. in front of Tillman Hall. The march will begin at 5:30 p.m. and will proceed from the front of Tillman to the Brooks Center. In the event of inclement weather, the rally will be held in the University Union and the march will be cancelled. 

The commemorative service at 6:30 p.m. at the Brooks Center will feature keynote speaker Dr. Samuel DuBois Cook, president emeritus of Dillard University in Louisiana. A native of Griffin, Ga., Cook’s career has included stints as a political scientist, scholar, educator, teacher, administrator, lecturer and civil and human rights activist.

Cook was the first African-American professor at Duke University, making him the first African-American to hold a regular faculty appointment at any predominantly white college or university in the South. He served as a member of Duke’s board of trustees and was named trustee emeritus in 1993.

He served as president of Dillard University for 22 years. Under his leadership, Dillard established the world’s only National Center for Black-Jewish Relations; it also became the only historically black college with a Japanese studies program.

The commemorative service also will feature a performance by the Benedict College Gospel Choir. A reception at the Hendrix Student Center will follow the service.