Equality of Privilege
Events at Kenyon begin at noon with a Solidarity Walk for the entire Kenyon community along Middle Path. The Solidarity Walk is consistent with the focus this year on the opportunity every member of the community has to help achieve social justice. Students will read excerpts from several of King's speeches in Peirce Hall during the lunch period.
President S. Georgia Nugent will open the Day of Dialogue at 4:10 p.m. in Brandi Recital Hall in Storer Hall. A faculty and student panel will discuss "Race, Identity, and Privilege" and the Step Team and Gospel Choir will perform. A conversation over dinner about King's mission in the Peirce Alumni Dining Hall will continue the next day, Tuesday, January 19, at 11:10 a.m. in Ascension Hall (room 220).
"This year, the planning committee decided to focus on the idea of privilege and how it relates to Dr. King's message and to Kenyon's educational mission," said Ivonne M. García, assistant professor of English and a committee member. "Dr. King challenged us all to take responsibility for making this a more egalitarian society and we want to make that challenge the focus of this second Day of Dialogue."
The day begins at 9:00 a.m. with the seventh annual Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast, in conjunction with Mount Vernon Nazarene University and this year in the Hyson Campus Center at Mount Vernon Nazarene.
The planning committee also includes Director of Equal Opportunity Mariam El-Shamaa; Assistant Professor of Chemistry Simon Garcia; Assistant Professor of Chemistry Yutan Getzler; Chris Kennerly, associate dean of students and director of Multicultural Affairs; Jesse Matz, advisor to the president and associate professor of English; Black Student Union President Janae Peters '10; Assistant Professor of English Jené Schoenfeld; Lisa Swaim, assistant director of the Center for Global Engagement; Marjorie Trueblood-Gamble , assistant director of Multicultural Affairs and Admissions; and Christine Wheeler , assistant director of Housing and Residential Life.
Here is a schedule for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Dialogue events on January 18:
- Noon - Solidarity Walk, leaving simultaneously from Old Kenyon and Bexley Hall.
- 12:20 p.m. - Reading in Peirce Hall of excerpts from King's speeches.
- 4:10 p.m. - Day of Dialogue begins with remarks by Nugent in Brandi Recital Hall, followed by a panel discussion on "Race, Identity, and Privilege." Panel members include Glenn McNair, associate professor of history; Matz; Schoenfeld; and student discrimination advisors Alice Adebiyi '11, Jamal Jordan '12, and Abby Cole Wardell '10.
- 5:40 p.m. - Step Team and Gospel Choir performances, Brandi Recital Hall.
- 6 p.m. - Dinner and conversation in Peirce Alumni Dining Hall moderated by Simon Garcia and Wheeler. The dialogue will continue on Tuesday at 11:10 a.m. in Ascension Hall.