Civil rights activist to speak at HU’s annual MLK Day service

DeLois McKinley-EldrigeHUNTINGTON, Ind. DeLois McKinley-Eldridge, a civil rights activist who participated in the 1963 demonstrations for desegregation, will speak at the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day service at Huntington University. The program will begin at 11:30 a.m. Jan. 20 in the Zurcher Auditorium of the Merillat Centre for the Arts. The public is encouraged to attend.

McKinley-Eldridge is a case manager for Fort Wayne Community Schools and the host of Gospel Flight, a Sunday morning gospel music program on WBOI.

She grew up in Birmingham, Ala., during the 1960s and participated in the 1963 demonstrations for desegregation during which she marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. She will be sharing her experiences with gospel music and the movement at the time.

Special music will be provided by freshman and Horizon student Christiana Hicks and with a special reading by senior Timeca Brown.

Launched in fall 2008, the Horizon Leadership Program is a partnership between Huntington University and Youth for Christ USA with the goal of creating a more racially and ethnically diverse campus. A cohort of students from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds is selected each year to receive the Horizon Leadership Scholarship.

The annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day address at Huntington University is presented in collaboration with the Harmony Initiative.