ALLIANCE, Ohio — The University of Mount Union will hold its 30^th Annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Keynote and Awards Ceremony on Thursday, January 20 in the Brush Performance Hall on the University’s campus.

The keynote address, titled “Connecting Campus and Community,” will be given by Brandon Scarborough, founder and executive director of Dreams Academy, a leadership organization for young men, and Dreams Academy Music and Media Center, an Akron organization where individuals are trained in piano, drums, guitar, voice and digital music production.

Scarborough, a 2002 graduate of Mount Union with a Bachelor of Arts degree in mass media communication, earned a master’s degree in education in 2007 and is certified in Youth Mental Health First Aid. He founded Dreams Academy in 2016 after previously being the first African-American male hired to teach gospel choir at Archbishop Hoban High School in Akron, and serving as an adjunct choir professor at the College of Wooster.

Mount Union is also offering other events throughout MLK Week. The annual MLK Day of Service will take place at various locations on Monday, January 17. Lunch with a Purpose, featuring Eric Taggart of Rodman Public Library, will be held at 11:15 a.m. in Mount Union’s Newbold Room on Tuesday, January 18. Also on January 18, a virtual alumni panel will be held via Zoom at 7 p.m. Finally, the first Civic Coffee and Donuts event of the spring will take place on Thursday, January 20 at 8:15 a.m. in the campus’ North Reading Room. 

Per Mount Union’s updated COVID-19 protocols, face coverings are required for all in-person events during MLK Week. 

The keynote and awards ceremony will have a livestream option available to the public. More information about the livestream, keynote, awards and other programming through Mount Union’s MLK Week can be found at mountunion.edu/mlk-week.