Honoring King

Daniel J. Curran, president of the University of Dayton, and Al Wofford, president and CEO of CDO Technologies, will serve as honorary co-chairs of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. National Holiday Celebration in Dayton.

Last year, the University of Dayton partnered with the Dayton Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to draw nationally syndicated Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and television commentator Clarence Page to Dayton for the annual banquet honoring King's legacy. This year, UD and the SCLC have attracted Johnnetta B. Cole, an educator who in 1987 became the first African-American woman to serve as president of Spelman College. Cole is currently the president of Bennett College for Women and immediate past chair of the board of trustees of the United Way of America.

Cole will headline the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. annual holiday celebration and presidential banquet at 6:30 p.m., Monday, Jan. 15, at the Mandalay Banquet Center. For ticket information, call 937-268-0051. She will keynote UD's annual Martin Luther King prayer breakfast at 7:30 a.m., Tuesday, Jan. 16, in the Kennedy Union ballroom. It's open to the campus community and requires a ticket. The talks are part of UD's Diversity Lecture Series.

Curran and Wofford will participate in a series of community-wide events in January, including youth workshops, an interfaith prayer breakfast, an emancipation proclamation celebration, worship service and a rally and march that attracted 10,000 participants in 2006. Curran will welcome the marchers.

''I'm honored to serve in this important community role that brings visibility to Dr. King's legacy and social justice issues,'' Curran said.