A semester-long series of events celebrating the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. will kick off Thursday, Feb. 2, with a celebration at SUNY Oneonta’s Center for Multicultural Experiences in Lee Hall. Titled “Building OUR Beloved Community” and developed with broad participation by SUNY Oneonta organizations and faculty members, the series will include roundtable discussions, videos, readings and musical performances. All events are free and open to the public.

Highlights include:
• A reading and book signing by Arthur Flowers, novelist, memoirist and children’s book author, on Tuesday, Feb. 7, at 7:30 p.m. in the Center for Multicultural Experiences in Lee Hall. A Vietnam veteran, blues singer, co-founder of the New Renaissance Writer’s Guild and Memphis native, Flowers is the author of a graphic novel titled “I See the Promised Land: A Life of Martin Luther King, Jr.”

• A film screening and discussion with Mike Ramsdell, producer of “Anatomy of Hate: A Dialogue to Hope,” at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 28, in the Craven Lounge of the Morris Conference Center.

• A campus-wide march for the promotion of diversity, multiculturalism and social justice in May. The winner of the college’s new MLK Jr. Service Award, given in recognition of an individual or group that exhibits King’s qualities and spirit of community service through efforts undertaken on the SUNY Oneonta campus and/or in the Oneonta community, will be announced at a closing celebration following the march.

A complete schedule of events is available here. More information on the “Building OUR Beloved Community” series is available from Mary Bonderoff at 436-2663 or mary.bonderoff@oneonta.edu.