CREDE - Center for Race, Ethnicity & Diversity Education

Elon University took part in the 21st National African-American Read-In on Friday when students, faculty and staff read aloud in Ward Octagon inside the Moseley Center. Organizers collected donations for Haiti relief and for local libraries at the event, which included an afternoon reading by Elon President Leo M. Lambert.

Many students, faculty and staff at Elon University have expressed concern for the people of Haiti following a massive earthquake on Tuesday that killed tens of thousands and devastated much of the Caribbean nation. A current student and a 2009 alum on the ground in Haiti have made contact with their families in the United States, while another two current students and other alumni have started hearing from their own relatives still in the country.

Dozens of Elon students turned out Monday morning for a “Freedom Journey” community march, followed by service activities at Elon First Baptist Church and Kopper Top Life Learning Center, which served as reminders of how civil rights pioneer Martin Luther King Jr. shaped a movement a generation ago to advance equality for all people.

On the eve of a national holiday to honor the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., members of the Elon University community gathered Sunday evening for an intimate candlelight ceremony in which guests shared stories of how the slain civil rights leader's message touches them today.

Diversity isn't about the intention, "it's about the result," and as author and diversity speaker Lenora Billings-Harris shared Wednesday in Elon University's annual Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Program, today's students must use their knowledge and courage to continue building on the social progress made by previous generations of civil rights activists.

Author and diversity consultant Lenora Billings-Harris will be the keynote speaker on Wednesday at Elon University’s annual MLK Commemorative Program, which honors the life of the slain civil rights leader. The program, free and an open to the public, begins at noon in Whitley Auditorium.