Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day offers us the opportunity to consider both a towering historical figure and his historic legacy. Dr. King’s messages of peace, caring and community, still resonate.
As a public urban research university we are always considering ways to strengthen our ties to the community of Akron. Dr. King’s life and work have been particularly inspirational to us as we continue to reckon with the events last summer around the death of local resident Jayland Walker.
In an effort to serve our community as Dr. King served his, we are working with Kemp Boyd, executive director of Love Akron, along with other community organizations such as Heart to Heart Leadership, the Greater Akron Chamber and the United Way of Summit and Medina, to create community discussions to strengthen mutual understanding of the spirit of Dr. King.
In his landmark “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Dr. King wrote, “Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” Those words, and the man who wrote them, continue to be an inspiration as we move forward as a community.
Sincerely,
Gary L. Miller
President
The University of Akron
Please join The University of Akron at noon on Friday, Jan. 13, for the free event “Remaining Focused During Critical Times” in the Jean Hower Taber Student Union’s Gardner Theatre. More information is available here.