University holds inaugural Martin Luther King Jr. Day prayer breakfast

Lenoir-Rhyne University will host the university’s inaugural Martin Luther King Jr. Day Prayer Breakfast on Jan. 16, starting at 7 a.m. in the Cromer Center on the Hickory campus.

The program for the breakfast, which lasts until 10 a.m., includes remarks from Fred Whitt, Ed.D., university president, Terry Phillips, director for multicultural affairs, and Christopher Wilson ’24, youth and family ministry major.

Community leaders  Gianella Romero, executive director of Centro Latino, Ida Clough, secretary of the Hickory NAACP, Honey Estrada, a Hmong community leader, and Pastor Todd Cutter, LR’s university pastor and director of spiritual life will also be in attendance.

The LadyElle Gospel Ensemble and the Lenoir-Rhyne A Cappella Choir, directed by Ryan Luhrs, Ph.D., will provide musical performances during the program.

At 11 a.m., after the breakfast concludes, participants may join the annual march organized and sponsored by the Hickory NAACP. The march will set off from P.E. Monroe Auditorium on the LR campus and make its way through Hickory to Ridgeview Recreation Center.

The event is free of charge and open to the public. Space is limited, so registration is strongly encouraged.