UNIVERSITY CLASSES WILL CLOSE, EVENTS SLATED FOR CELEBRATION

Martin Luther King Jr., slain leader of the civil rights movement, will be remembered at Southeast Missouri State University and throughout the community during several special events scheduled Monday through Jan. 31.

The theme of this year's events is "Reclaiming the Dream."

King, whose life was claimed by an assassin in 1968, would have been 63 this year.

Southeast Missouri State University will cancel classes Jan. 20 in observance of his birthday. University offices will be open.

Beginning Monday, displays depicting King's life will be showcased in the Indian and Missouriana Rooms on the University Center's fourth floor. The display will continue through Jan. 31.

The annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Breakfast will be held at 7:30 a.m. Jan. 20 in the University Center Ballroom. The public is invited. Cost is $5.50 a person.

Keynote speaker at the breakfast will be the Rev. S. Lewis Bradford of St. Louis.

An educational program titled "A Tribute to the Civil Rights Movement and its Leaders" will be held at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 20 in Academic Auditorium. Dr. Cyrus Keller of St. Louis will be the guest speaker and will discuss the civil rights movement today. Music also will be featured.

The annual Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Freedom March will begin at 2:45 p.m. Jan. 26 at the Cape Girardeau Common Pleas Courthouse. The public is invited to participate. The march will proceed west on Broadway and end at St. James AME Church, 516 North Street, where a program to close the festivities will be held.

The program, titled "Martin Luther King: His Legacy to the Church," will begin around 3:15 p.m.

In addition, the university is sponsoring an essay contest for area students in remembrance of King. Theme of the essay contest is "your ideal dream of America." Students in first through 12th grade and University students are eligible to participate.

The university also is sponsoring an art contest for students in first through 12 grade. Participating students must draw a picture of someone who has been instrumental in the areas of justice, equality and freedom, and who has worked to promote civil rights.

Certificates will be awarded in various age brackets. Entries may be submitted through local school principals' offices or to Southeast Missouri State University's Student Life Programs Office in the University Center.

University students and staff will judge the entries.