Northern Michigan University will honor the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. during a week-long celebration. 

Activities begin on Monday, Jan. 16, the federal holiday marking King’s birthday. No classes are held at NMU in observance of the holiday, but students and community members are invited to join in service activities that promote positivity and goodwill.

At 10 a.m. in the University Center’s Peter White Lounge, groups of two or more will participate in a Kindness Scavenger Hunt. Each group will receive a list of about 20 good deeds to select from and pursue. At noon, there will be a march from the lobby of Magers and Meyland Halls to the University Center, followed by a brief lunch and a program on King’s legacy and message in the Peter White Lounge. Service projects such as Valentine card-making for veterans, knitting hats and scarves for the Women’s Center, making dog chew toys for UPAWS and a training session for Room at the Inn volunteers will begin at 2:30 p.m. There will also be relevant readings and coloring activities at the U.P. Children’s Museum at 3:30.

Ashley Yates, a prominent organizer of the Black Lives Matter movement and co-founder of Millennial Activists United, will give a public presentation at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 19, in the University Center Charcoal Room. Admission is free. Yates also helped to organize Ferguson October in her home state of Missouri. The event encouraged activist allies across the nation to show solidarity in the wake of Michael Brown’s death. Her views on the incident and the importance of youth resistance have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, on HuffingtonPostLive and MSNBC.

The closing event for the week will be a free book distribution with pizza and pop for NMU students at 1:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 20, in the Hedgcock Atrium. Students will receive copies of the 2017 Diversity Common Reader Program selection, Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine.