Law School Hosts Reception to Honor Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Carlisle, PA (January 10, 2006) — The Penn State Dickinson School of Law will celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, January 16 with a reception featuring civil rights activist Ann Durr Lyon of Mechanicsburg. The event, sponsored by the law school’s Office of Student Affairs, will take place at 5 p.m. in the Student Lounge of Trickett Hall, 150 South College Street, Carlisle. The public is invited to attend free of charge.

When Rosa Parks was arrested 50 years ago in Montgomery, Alabama, for refusing to give up her bus seat, Lyon’s parents, Clifford Durr and Virginia Foster Durr, joined with black political leader E. D. Nixon to bail Parks out of jail and were among the few whites who participated in the bus boycott that followed. Lyon will share her parents’ story, as well as her own experiences with the fight for civil rights, during her presentation.

Representatives from the law school’s Black Law Students Association (BLSA) and Minority Law Students Association (MLSA) and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Rob Gatter will also speak in honor of King’s legacy. Light refreshments will be provided. For more information, please contact the Office of Student Affairs at (717) 240-5247.

In addition to the reception, the law school will commemorate the holiday with BLSA’s “Day of Service.” Student volunteers will work with St. Francis Soup Kitchen and Bethesda Women’s Center in Harrisburg on Saturday, January 14, assist with the beautification of a local African American-owned business, Visions of You, the following day, and prepare food for distribution at Project SHARE on Monday, January 16. The group also plans to participate in the local MLK March Sunday, January 15 at 3 p.m.