Join MLK, Jr. Day march against bullying

EOU marks MLK, Jr. Day with march against bullying

News contact: Laura Hancock | University Advancement
541-962-3585 | lhancock@eou.edu

Source contact: Bennie Moses | Multicultural Center Director
541-962-3741 | bmoses@eou.edu

EOU file photo / An MLK, Jr. Day march begins at 11 a.m. Monday at Max Square in honor of Jadin and Joe Bell. All are welcome to participate.

January 14, 2014
LA GRANDE, Ore. (EOU) – Eastern Oregon University’s commemoration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day begins with a march at 11 a.m. Monday, Jan. 20.

Participants are asked to meet at Max Square where a member of EOU’s Black Student Union will give a short welcome, followed by brief presentations from Bud Hill and Dr. William Whitaker.

Hill will share information about Faces for Change, an anti-bullying foundation established in memory of La Grande teenager Jadin Bell.

Whitaker, representing Oregon Rural Action, will talk about his experience in the American civil rights movement and lead the song “Stayed on Freedom” to start the march.

The march honors Jadin and his father Joe Bell and is intended to help carry forward a powerful message of prevention. Last fall, Bell was struck and killed by a tractor-trailer while on a cross-country journey to raise public awareness of the effects of bullying following his son’s suicide in February 2013.

The march will proceed East on Adams Ave. from Max Square, turn right on Greenwood St. and continue to 8^th St. and the EOU campus where it concludes in Ackerman Hall, Room 210.

Participants will then hear from Dr. Donald Easton-Brooks, dean of the Colleges of Business and Education, and are invited to engage in a series of roundtable discussions on a variety of topics.

Refreshments will be provided courtesy of Yia Yia Nikki’s, Safeway and the Student Council for Multicultural Affairs at EOU.

Additionally, campus offices will close and no classes will be held Monday in observance of the holiday.