Richard Hatcher to speak at ML King Convocation Thursday (1/24)

Richard G. Hatcher, the first African American mayor of the city of Gary, is the keynote speaker of Purdue University Calumet’s annual Martin Luther King Jr., Convocation, Thursday, Jan. 24 at 11 a.m. in Alumni Hall of the University’s Student Union & Library.

Admission is free.

In observing the 40th anniversary of King’s death, Hatcher will reflect on his thoughts and views 41 years after he and Carl Stokes of Cleveland became the first elected African American mayors of major American cities.

“Mayor Hatcher will discuss how students can be agents of social change as the civil rights movement continues,” said Roy Hamilton, Purdue Calumet Assistant Vice Chancellor for Educational Opportunity Programs and part of the University’s Cultural Awareness Advisory Committee, which is sponsoring the program.

The Convocational also will include excerpts from “Dream Girls,” performed by the Gary West Side High School Theatre Guild; a partial reading from King’s “Beyond Vietnam” by Purdue Calumet student Julianne Boulware; and a performance by Purdue Calumet student Ricardo Huizar, who placed first in a Rap Contest honoring King during last year’s Convocation.

News Release Date: January 18, 2008