Stetson University will begin a four-day celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.’s life from Sunday through Wednesday, Jan. 20-23. The public is cordially invited to all of the following events at Stetson and throughout DeLand.

Sunday, Jan. 20

5:30 p.m. Chapel Service at Stetson University

Location: Lee Chapel inside Elizabeth Hall, 421 N. Woodland Blvd., DeLand, Fla.

Stetson University Chaplain Michael Fronk and Yale Divinity graduate from Bethel AME Church in DeLand, Rev. Willie Barnes, Jr. will preside over the service. The service will also feature gospel and inspirational music from Bethel AME Church. Stetson’s Office of Student Development and Campus Vibrancy, is sponsoring this event. For more information please call the Chaplain’s Office at (386) 822-7523, or email Chaplain Michael Fronk ([email protected]).

Monday, Jan. 21

7:30-10:30 a.m.  Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Breakfast

Location: Rinker Field House in Hollis Center, 602 N. Bert Fish Drive, DeLand, Fla. 

10:30 a.m.-noon Martin Luther King Jr. Unity March

Location: Rinker Field House to Chisholm Community Center, DeLand, Fla.

1-4 p.m. Day of Service (various locations)

Coordinated by Stetson University’s Center for Community Engagement, (386) 822-8706

Encouraging everyone to make Martin Luther King Jr. Day a “day ON, not a day OFF,” Stetson will join Americans across the country who will honor and celebrate King’s life and legacy by helping neighbors and communities. During the Day of Service Stetson students, faculty, staff and alumni will be reaching out a helping hand to those in need through six local organizations:

• The Neighborhood Center
• The Holiday House
• Halifax Health Hospice
• United Cerebral Palsy
• MainStreet DeLand Association
• Chisholm Community Center

4:30-5:30 p.m. Chapel Service

Location: Lee Chapel in Elizabeth Hall, 421 N. Woodland Blvd., DeLand, Fla. 

Tuesday, Jan. 22

6-7 p.m. Sankofa African American Traveling Museum Opening Reception

Sponsored by the Stetson University Cross-Cultural Center

Location: Stetson Room, Carlton Union Building, 131 E. Minnesota Ave., DeLand, Fla.

This event is free and open to the public.

Curator Angela Jennings will share opening remarks about the importance of learning from our past to build our future as a precursor to the featured evening presentation, “Will You Get on the Bus?”

7-8:30 p.m.  Will You Get on the Bus?

Intimate moments with original 1961 Freedom Rider Dr. Ernest “Rip” Patton on Martin Luther King Jr. and other Civil Rights leaders

Location: Stetson Room, Carlton Union Building, 131 E. Minnesota Ave., DeLand, Fla.

This event is free and open to the public.

Sponsored by the Stetson University Cross-Cultural Center and Marchman Program for Civic and Social Responsibility, and Stetson University College of Law

Reenactment of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech followed by personal stories of encounters with Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil rights leaders by original 1961 Freedom Rider, Dr. Ernest “Rip” Patton. Patton took part in the May 24, 1961, Greyhound Freedom Ride to Jackson, Miss., where he was arrested and later transferred to Mississippi’s notorious Parchman State Prison Farm. 

Wednesday, Jan. 23

*9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Guided tours of Sankofa African American Traveling Museum

Sponsored by the Stetson University Cross-Cultural Center

Location: Stetson Room, Carlton Union Building, 131 E. Minnesota Ave., DeLand, Fla.

This event is free and open to the public.

One of the foremost collections of African American history spanning the period of 1860 to the present, “Sankofa” takes audiences on a journey through slavery, the era of King Cotton and days of Emancipation. It also tells the stories of Ida B. Wells, the Tuskegee Airman, and other famous African Americans. This exhibit includes more than 20 tables of historical artifacts, pictures, writings and other tangible items which are enhanced with a guided tour, question and answer session and dramatic presentation.

*The exhibit will be closed from noon until 1 p.m.