Public universities in Florida have extensive lineup of events marking MLK Day

FSU is drawing on King’s Six Principles of Nonviolence.

Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, marked with a federal holiday across America, and universities in Florida will commemorate the day with multiple events on the public campuses.

King was not only influential in civil rights, but many of his writings remain staples of higher education in multiple disciplines, including political science, religion, philosophy, sociology, and many others. Public universities in Florida will celebrate King’s work in multiple ways on different campuses.

Florida Atlantic University is conducting an MLK Jr. Day of Service on the Boca Raton campus Monday from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., where students can help pack and decorate bags of goods for the needy at the Weppner Center.

Florida Gulf Coast University will hold the MLK dinner on Monday at 7 p.m. in the Cohen Student Union Ballroom. The event is designed to celebrate the legacy of King.

Florida State University is in the midst of its MLK Week, which is 11 days long from Jan. 14 to Jan. 25. The university has multiple events at several locations at the Tallahassee campus.

University of Central Florida has an MLK Day of Service at the campus just outside of Orlando. It runs from 9 a.m. to noon at the UCF Lead Scholars Academy.

University of North Florida also had a Day of Service to help the needy at Building 17 Monday from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Osprey Clubhouse on the Jacksonville campus.

University of South Florida is midway through its MLK Week, with commemorations running through Saturday at the Gulf Coast campus.

Florida A&M University, perhaps the state’s most prominent historically black university, already had a convocation Friday at Lee Hall Auditorium.

Florida International University held its MLK Day of Service from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. Saturday.

University of Florida already celebrated the day on Thursday with a lecture at Pugh Hall on the Gainesville campus.

University of West Florida’s MLK Day of Service and Breakfast program was on Thursday.