JANUARY 15, 2009 ISSUE
Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration at ASU January 20
Program To Feature Iota Phi Theta Founder and March on Washington Participant
Retired Lt. Col. John Slade, a participant in the 1963 March on Washington and founding member of Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, will deliver the keynote address at ASU’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration on Tuesday, January 20. The program begins at 7:00 p.m. in Farthing Auditorium.Retired Lt. Col. John Slade is one of 12 founding members of Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, an African American fraternity that actively participated in the protests and sit-ins in the Baltimore area during the 1960s. Slade marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the historic March on Washington on August 28, 1963.
On Tuesday, January 20, Slade will share his experience with the Appalachian State University community as part of the university’s annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration. He will discuss King’s lasting legacy, meeting and marching with King in the March to Washington and the work that remains today to fulfill King’s dream. The program begins at 7:00 p.m. in Farthing Auditorium and will also include remarks on behalf of the university by Cindy Wallace, vice chancellor for Student Development.
On September 19, 1963, Slade and eleven other nontraditional students at Morgan State College in Baltimore gathered on the steps of Hurts Gymnasium to form Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, an organization to support men of color living during those turbulent times. The fraternity participated in civil rights protests and sit-ins throughout the Baltimore area.
Iota Phi Theta is a member of the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC), a collaborative organization of nine historically African American international Greek-lettered fraternities and sororities. The NPHC was established during a time when African Americans suffered from racial segregation and disenfranchisement. The council’s eight other members are Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority.
After graduating from Morgan State, Slade entered the television industry and became a television producer. He also was the host of the first African American television program in Baltimore called Northstar.
As an officer of the U.S. Army Reserve, he served as professor of military science at Bowie State University and assistant professor at Georgetown and Howard Universities. As a retired lieutenant colonel, Slade now works as a writer, lecturer and entrepreneur.
Slade’s talk is also part of the Diversity Speaker Series sponsored by the ASU Office of Multicultural Student Development.
The 2009 Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday also coincides with another significant event in American history—the inauguration of Barack Obama, the country’s first African American president. During the day, the presidential inauguration will be shown on televisions and projection screens throughout the Plemmons Student Union on campus, said Augusto Peña, assistant director of multicultural student education at ASU. Stations will also be set up for community members to write personal notes or letters to the newly sworn-in president and first lady. These letters will be bound together and delivered to the White House, Peña said.
For more info, call Augusto Peña at 828-262-6252.
Want To Go?
Date: Tuesday, January 20
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Farthing Auditorium, ASU
Cost: Free
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