
Members of both campus and community are invited to attend two days of programs and events commemorating the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Events on Wednesday, April 4, the day of King’s assassination include a 5:30 p.m. march from the Haley Center Concourse to Langdon Hall followed by a vigil on Samford lawn and a ringing of the chimes at precisely 7:05, the exact time of King’s passing.
Events will kick off earlier in the day with a lecture at Pebble Hill by Sarah Collins-Rudolph who will also lead the march and host a short talk later in the evening at Langdon Hall. The culminating event will be hosted at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, Auburn University on Thursday, April 5 at 1:30 p.m. Members of the interfaith community have been invited for panel discussions and conversations focused on King’s vision of “Becoming the Beloved Community.” All events are free and open to the public.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4
1:00 p.m./Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities
“Fifty Years Later: 1968 – 2018 Race and Faith in the U.S.”
Sarah Collins-Rudolph, the survivor of the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham and sister of Addie Mae Collins, one of the four little girls killed in the bombing, will lead a lecture reflecting on the 50th anniversary.
5:30 p.m./Haley Center Concourse
March from Haley Center Concourse to Langdon Hall
Sarah Collins-Rudolph will host a short talk at Langdon Hall
7:05 p.m./Samford Park Lawn
Candlelight vigil and ringing of the chimes
Samford Hall’s bells will chime to commemorate the time King was assassinated in Memphis, TN, in 1968.