Martin Luther King, Jr. Days of Dialogue is coming back to the University of Wyoming February 2-7.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Days of Dialogue, or MLKDOD, is celebrating its 14th year at UW with the theme of Equity in the Equality State. Each year, a planning committee made up of UW staff, faculty, and students work together to plan a week of events celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr.’s ideals and values.

Ryan O’Neil and Chicory Bechtel, co-chairs on the MLKDOD Planning Committee, say the week provides an opportunity to engage the UW campus and the surrounding community in conversations around diversity.

This year people can join in the conversation in a variety of ways. MLKDOD has a Facebook page where people can get information on events on take part in a variety of conversations. This year Twitter will also be utilized with the hashtags #EquityInWyo and #MLKDOD.

“We definitely encourage people to join online conversation during the week, leading up to the week, and after the week,” says Bechtel. “Again, these are the days of dialogue so we’re very excited to see what kinds of dialogue can take place online.”

All events are free to the public, and only two events throughout the week require pre-registration. The book discussion on Wednesday requires pre-registration and is already filled. In addition, the online dialogue on Tuesday requires online registration.

One of the last events of the week is the Diversity Ball on Saturday night. This event requires tickets, which are available for free at the Union Information Desk.

“One notable thing about this dinner is that it is focused on student participation so we have limited dinner tickets for faculty, staff and community, but there will be some available. Anyone can attend the after-dinner activities without a ticket,” says O’Neil.

The Days of Dialogue week is taking place later in the year than it has in the past. When it began, it took place during the week of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday, but the later start time for UW classes made that time a difficult one for a week of activities geared towards getting students and community members talking.

“With students not returning to campus until after the MLK, Jr. Holiday, we opted to stay with the tradition of hosting MLK, Jr. Days of Dialogue in the second week of the spring semester, just to allow us the opportunity to get the word out to students about the events,” says O’Neil.

For more information on MLKDOD, visit http://www.uwyo.edu/studentaff/mlkdod/. We will also have lists of daily events on this website posted the morning of the events.

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