Award nominations open in preparation for MLK Celebration Week events

Northwest Missouri State University's Center for Engagement and Community Connection will celebrate the life of civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. with its 2026 MLK Celebration Week, beginning Monday, Jan. 19, and concluding Friday, Jan. 23.

All activities are free and open to the public, including Northwest's annual peace luncheon on Jan. 23, where the University will honor Community Impact Award recipients.

The Community Impact Award honors faculty, staff, students and community members whose volunteerism, engagement, scholarship, research, teaching or program development reflect King's values. Recipients demonstrate a sustained commitment to the well-being and continual improvement of Northwest and the broader Maryville community.

Nominations should be submitted via the online form at this link by Saturday, Dec. 13.

"Recognizing those who serve our community reminds us that lasting change begins with ordinary people choosing to act with compassion and commitment," Dr. Shay Malone, Northwest's assistant vice president of institutional excellence and global engagement, said. "Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. embodied the tenets of servant leadership - the belief that true leadership is demonstrated through service. By honoring our faculty, staff, students and community partners, we celebrate the actions people take, the power of connection and the collective impact that moves us all forward."

The Northwest community is invited to attend the annual MLK Peace Luncheon from noon to 2 p.m. Friday, Jan. 23, in the J.W. Jones Student Union. The event will honor King's life and legacy while featuring Northwest alumna Pamela Westbrooks-Hodge as the keynote speaker.

A 1991 graduate, Westbrooks-Hodge has devoted her life to advancing excellence, equity and justice throughout her three-decade career in leadership roles with Express Scripts, Anheuser-Busch and Bank of America. Today, Westbrooks-Hodge serves on the Missouri State Board of Education, where she helps shape statewide education policy. She also chairs the Strategic Planning Committee and serves on the Governor's School Funding Modernization Task Force.

About Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Although King was born Jan. 15, 1929, his birthday has been observed as a national holiday on the third Monday of each January since 1986.

In observance of the holiday, Northwest will not have classes on Monday, Jan. 19, and all University offices are closed.

King's effort to lead the American Civil Rights Movement during the 1950s and '60s included the 1963 March on Washington. There, he delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech, which dramatically raised public consciousness about civil rights and established King as a world figure. He was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee.

MLK Celebration Week activities at Northwest are sponsored by the University's Center for Engagement and Community Connection. For more information, visit https://www.nwmissouri.edu/connection/programs/mlk.htm.