MLK Day Celebration

MLK Day 2023: Friday, January 13 at 2:00 p.m.

Penn State Scranton celebrates Martin Luther King, Jr. Day each year to honor the life and work of civil rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr., and to recognize the campus' commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Registration is required.

Deadline to register: January 4, 2023

Our Keynote Speaker

We are honored to announce our Keynote Speaker will be Minnijean Brown Trickey, Congressional Gold Medal Recipient and Member of the Little Rock Nine.

 smiling woman Minnijean Brown Trickey

HISTORY OF THE LITTLE ROCK NINE: September 25, 1957, became a historic day in the Nation when nine courageous children risked their lives to attend Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Confronted by a hostile crowd and escorted by the Screaming Eagles of the 101st Airborne, they shouldered the burden of integrating a then segregated public school system.  Although the Supreme Court’s Landmark 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education struck down racial segregation in public schools, it was the courageous actions of these nine young champions of school integration that tested the strength of that decision.  Their actions not only mobilized a Nation to insure that access to a quality education was granted to all Americans, but they helped to define the civil rights movement. They became known as the Little Rock Nine.

Although all of the Nine experienced verbal and physical harassment during their year at Central, Minnijean Brown Trickey was first suspended, and then expelled for retaliating against the daily torment. She moved to New York and lived with Drs. Kenneth B. And Mamie Clark, the African American psychologists whose social science findings played a critical role in the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case. 

Get more information about Ms. Brown and the Little Rock Nine.

Sponsored by Barnes and Noble and Empower.

MLK Day Event Agenda

Join us in the Study Learning Center at the Penn State Scranton Campus, 120 Ridgeview Drive, Dunmore on Friday, January 13, 2023.  View Campus Map

  • Registration begins at 1:30 p.m. Light refreshments will be served.
  • Each year, two Excellence in Diversity Awards are given during the ceremony: one to a member of the campus community, and another to a local community member or organization who shows a commitment to diversity. 
  • Keynote Speaker Minnijean Brown Trickey.

RSVP by 1/4/23 to Attend



Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the physical access provided, please call Penn State Scranton Chancellor’s Office at 570-963-2539 or email [email protected] at least one week prior to the start of the program to allow sufficient time to effectively meet your access needs.