North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University will celebrate the life of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Jan. 13-16, with a host of community service activities.

King is the only African American for whom a federal holiday is observed in the United States. He is renowned for his leadership and nonviolent activism during the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s and his eloquence. His “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on Washington, D.C. (1963), “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” (1963) and Nobel Peace Prize lecture (1964) are highly regarded and often quoted. He was assassinated on April 4, 1968.

This year’s theme is The Legacy: Remember, Celebrate, Act. Students, faculty and staff will participate in the community service activities listed below. Volunteers may sign up online using the respective links.

Friday, Jan. 13
AGGIES IN THE SCHOOLS

Washington Montessori
30 volunteers are needed to serve as lunch and reading buddies for each timeframe below:
9–11:30 a.m., http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Washington1
11:30 a.m.–2 p.m., http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Washington2
 
Rankin Elementary
30 volunteers are needed to serve as lunch and reading buddies for each timeframe below:
9–11:30 a.m., http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Rankin1
11:30 a.m.–2 p.m., http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Rankin2
 
Hampton Academy
30 volunteers are needed to serve as lunch and reading buddies for each timeframe below:
9–11:30 a.m., http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Hampton1
11:30 a.m.–2 p.m., http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HAMPTON2

Monday, Jan. 16
MLK Jr. Holiday: A DAY OF SERVICE

Greensboro Children’s Museum
1–4 p.m.
40 volunteers are needed
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ChildrensMuseum2012
 
Urban Ministries Kitchen
9 a.m.–1 p.m.
10 volunteers are needed to serve the homeless
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/UrbanMinistriesKitchen2012
 
Cove Creek Gardens 
8:30 a.m.–1 p.m.
30 volunteers are needed to help beautify the community gardens
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CoveCreek2012
 
Welfare Reform
Distribution and stocking of items
200 volunteers are needed to distribute and stock items for each
timeframe below:
9–11 a.m., http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WelfareReform2012-1
11 a.m.–1 p.m., http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WelfareReform2012-2

The university will host its annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration on Thursday, Jan. 19, in Harrison Auditorium. The program will begin at 7 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

For more information, call 336-334-7571.

Darryl C. Towns, commissioner and chief executive officer of New York State Homes and Community Renewal will be the guest speaker at the university’s annual Sit-in Anniversary Breakfast on Wednesday, Feb. 1, in the Alumni-Foundation Event Center. The breakfast begins at 5:30 a.m. and is free and open to the public.

For 18 years prior to his current appointment, Towns served in the New York State Assembly where he chaired the banking committee, the Subcommittee on Mass Transit, and the State Legislature’s Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus. He also served on education, health, rules and economic development, job creation, commerce and industry committees. In the NYS Assembly, he worked closely with not-for-profit housing agencies and community development corporations to revitalize neighborhoods and build and preserve affordable housing for his constituents.

Towns attended City University of New York’s Medgar Evers College and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in economics from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in 1990. While matriculating at A&T, he served in the student government as attorney general and vice president of external affairs, was a residence assistant, and was president of Eta Chapter, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity. He served in the U.S. Air Force for five years.

Towns is the son of A&T alumnus and veteran U.S. Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.). He resides in Brooklyn with his wife Karen Boykin-Towns and daughters Jasmine and Trinity.

The Sit-in Anniversary Breakfast pays tribute to four North Carolina A&T State University freshmen—Ezell A. Blair Jr. (Jibreel Khazan), Franklin E. McCain, Joseph A. McNeil and David L. Richmond—who sat down and refused to leave the whites-only lunch counter at the F.W. Woolworth Store in downtown Greensboro on Feb. 1, 1960. Their nonviolent protest became part of a nationwide movement that led to desegregation.

During the breakfast, Chancellor Harold L. Martin Sr. will present the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University Human Rights Medal to this year’s winner(s). The award recognizes individuals who have endeavored to correct social injustice and have significantly contributed to the betterment
of the world.