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SMSU Briefs for Jan. 11

MLK to be honored at SMSU next week

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Week of Service and Civil Engagement will be Jan. 14-19 with several events planned throughout the week. The activities honor Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and legacy of fighting for social and economic equality through activism and service.

Several special guests will visit throughout the week to perform and to share their experiences through panel discussions.

SeVy, a gospel quartet from Minneapolis, will perform at the community breakfast on Monday, Jan. 16.

Joan C. Browning, a writer and lecturer from West Virginia, will speak at the discussion following the 6 p.m. viewing of “Love and Solidarity: James Lawson & Nonviolence in Search for Workers’ Rights.” on Jan. 18. She writes and lectures about growing up four miles from one of the South’s most rabid racist politicians and about finding her way into the 1960s civil rights movement in the deep South.

Celeste Bembry’s performance of Negro spirituals, gospel music, jazz, ethnic roots music, and American opera has taken her to concert halls, cathedrals, universities, academies, and opera houses in 35 countries. Bembry will perform at the Jan. 19 MLK Unity Through the Arts Showcase from 6-9 p.m. in the Lower Conference Center.

All events are free and open to the public.

Non-perishable food will be collected at events throughout the week.

Sponsors of the MLK Week of Service and Civic Engagement include: SMSU Office of Diversity and Inclusion, SMSU Access Opportunity Success, SMSU Center for Civic Engagement, SMSU Black Student Union, City of Marshall, Marshall Area Chamber of Commerce, Marshall Area YMCA, United Way, Western Community Action, and Marshall Public Schools.

The week’s complete listing of events is as follows:

Saturday, Jan. 14

“Be Kind” event, 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Marshall-Lyon County Library. Stories, activities, music and service projects that promote kindness and help us understand why humans are innately kind.

Monday, Jan. 16

MLK Breakfast and Day of Service

Community Breakfast, 7-9:30 a.m. Upper Conference Center

The program will include words by SMSU personnel and Marshall community leaders, a performance by gospel quartet SeVy from Minneapolis, and a viewing of the General Mills Foundation and United Negro College Fund-sponsored broadcast of The MLK Breakfast at the Minneapolis Convention Center. The broadcast will feature author and activist Myrlie Evers-Williams, the wife of murdered civil rights activist Medgar Evers.

Following the broadcast will be a community discussion panel and a service-learning project with Food4Kids. This event is free and open to the public. Registration is required to attend.

Volunteer and Services Fair, 9:30-10:30 a.m. Upper Conference Center

Various organizations within the Marshall community will be available to provide information about volunteer opportunities and services.

Food4Kids packing event, 10:30 a.m. Agape Fellowship 301 N. High St., Marshall.

Volunteers will help sort food for children in need. Space is limited for this event. Call 507-537-7304 or email cassie.williams@smsu.edu to register.

Diversity Book Club, reading: “A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota,” 12:30-1:30 p.m. CH 225.

SMSU’s faculty and staff will have their second book club session, discussing the book, “A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota,” by Sun Yung Shin. For more information, email Maria.Filace.2@smsu.edu.

Tuesday, Jan. 17

The Voices of Civil Rights: Written Work by Civil Rights Activists, performed by Marshall High School and SMSU students, 6-7 p.m., Lower Conference Center.

SMSU and Marshall High School students will read various written work by pivotal leaders and writers of the Civil Right Movement.

Wednesday, Jan. 18

Viewing of “Love and Solidarity: James Lawson & Nonviolence in Search for Workers’ Rights,” followed by a discussion with Freedom Rider Joan C. Browning, 6-7:30 p.m., Lower Conference Center

Directed by Michael Honey, “Love and Solidarity: James Lawson & Nonviolence in Search for Workers’ Rights” explores nonviolence and organizing through the life of the Rev. James Lawson. Following the movie there will be a panel featuring Freedom Rider Joan C. Browning and historian Jeff Kolnick.

Thursday, Jan. 19

MLK Unity Through the Arts Showcase 6-9 p.m., Lower Conference Center, featuring Celeste Bembry

The Marshall community will come together to celebrate Dr. King’s legacy through art. Musicians, singers, poets, writers, visual artists and more from the Marshall community will have an opportunity to showcase their love for art. Singer and performer Celeste Bembry will be performing. Artists, contact Nathan Halverson Nathan.Halverson.2@smsu.edu to sign-up to perform.

For more information on the week’s events, visit: smsu.edu/administration/diversityinclusion/

Magician Mike Super to perform Jan. 24

Mike Super’s magic and illusion college show comes to Southwest Minnesota State University at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 24, in the SMSU Conference Center Upper Level Ballroom.

Tickets are available at www.SMSUtickets.com (print your own E-tickets), on a first-come basis. Limited ballroom general admission seating is available for 400. Advanced tickets for the general public are $8, SMSU students are $5 with a valid ID, and all tickets are $10 on the day of show. Doors open at 7:30 p.m.

Super has been named Entertainer of the Year, Best Performing Artist of the Year, Best Novelty Performer of the Year, he was voted America’s Favorite Mystifier on NBC’s TV Show “Phenomenon” and was a finalist on “America’s Got Talent.”

The secret to his success is his natural ability to entertain and fascinate people. He has pioneered a new form of magic with his own inimitable, down-to-earth style and personality and has brought the art of magic back to the people. He transcends the “trick” and connects personally with his audience on a level they can relate to.

For more information, call the Student Activities office at 507-537-6394. This event is sponsored by SAC and funded by SAFAC.

SMSU President Gores, 3 other female presidents co-author editorial in ‘Chronicle’

Southwest Minnesota State University President Dr. Connie J. Gores is one of four female college presidents who have co-authored an editorial in the latest edition of the Chronicle of Higher Education, a news source for college and university administrators.

The piece, titled “The Benefits of Gender Balance in a System’s Presidential Offices,” was authored by President Gores, Normandale Community College President Joyce Ester, Minnesota State University Moorhead President Anne Blackhurst and North Hennepin Community College President Barbara McDonald. These four were all elected by their peers — presidents of Minnesota State colleges and universities — to serve on the executive committee of the Minnesota State Leadership Council, a body comprised of all the campus presidents and the chancellor’s cabinet. That is the first time all four members of the Leadership Council have been women.

The editorial says that while women make up only about 26 percent of all college and university presidents, that the Minnesota State system is doing much better — 14 out of 30 institutions have female presidents.

It goes on to praise the Minnesota State system for making similar strides in diversifying the racial makeup of its presidents, too. Thirty-three percent are members of a racial or ethnic minority group.

That progress, the authors maintain, is the result of an organizational commitment to equity and inclusion that serves as the foundation for a strategy to develop, recruit and retain diverse leaders in an effort to serve the nearly 400,000 students in the Minnesota State system. Those efforts include leadership development, recruitment, mentoring, onboarding and coaching.

How the four have inspired other women was also singled out. “But the benefit of more women in leadership roles that we find the most exciting, from a personal point of view, is how we are inspiring other women of all ages,” reads the article. “Young women ask us questions about what it takes to be a leader, what we find most challenging, and how we got to the place we are. These are questions most people don’t consider asking white male leaders. We also have been told by older women that we embody their aspirations for their children and their grandchildren.”

The article concludes, “And isn’t that what we’re really all trying to do? Inspire our students to dream beyond the future they thought they had, no matter who they are or where they come from? When our places of higher learning truly reflect the diversity of our students, they can more effectively imagine and realize their potential.”

The editorial appeared in the Jan. 6 issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education. It can be found here: www.chronicle.com/article/The-Benefits-of-Gender-Balance/238778

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