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The historic 1963 March on Washington in which Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech will be reenacted Thursday [JAN. 14] at East Central University.

Marchers will gather on the Centennial Plaza in front of the Hallie Brown Ford Fine Arts Center at 12:30 p.m. to begin a march around campus led by ECU students. Gertrude Bush, chair of the Pontotoc County Election Board, has been named Honorary Grand Marshal.

The march will be held in connection with Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 18, the national holiday marking King's birth on Jan. 15.

The march will end at 1 p.m. in the atrium of the University Center. The program will include a performance by the ECU Gospel Choir under the direction of Dr. Melody Baggech, associate professor of music, and a performance by Collage, ECU's dance ensemble, choreographed by Dr. Victoria Dansby, professor of communication.

ECU junior Jomain McKenzie will interpret the famous "I Have a Dream" speech. Dr. Brian Bentel, associate professor of sociology, will conclude the program with short comments regarding the importance of the speech on the Civil Rights Movement and its applicability today.

Between an estimated 200,000 and 300,000 people took part in the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom which was organized by leaders of the Congress of Racial Equality, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the NAACP and the National Urban League.

King's speech, which was delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, is credited with convincing Congress to pass the pivotal Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The reenactment is sponsored by ECU's Human Diversity Committee and the CREW, ECU's student programming board.

For more information, contact Dr. Christine Pappas at cpappas@ecok.edu or 559-5640.

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