Bridgewater College will celebrate the Martin Luther King Jr. Day and King’s legacy again on Wednesday, Jan. 29 when Wil Haygood, the author of The Butler: A Witness to History, speaks in Cole Hall at 7:30 p.m.
Raised in a poor family and the first of his family to attend college, Haygood is an acclaimed Washington Postreporter. He spent 17 years as a national and foreign correspondent for The Boston Globe, where he was a Pulitzer Prize finalist.
Haygood is the author of the non-fiction books: King of the Cats: The Life and Times of Adam Clayton Powell Jr., In Black and White: The Life of Sammy Davis Jr. and Sweet Thunder: The Life and Times of Sugar Ray Robinson.
Haygood’s appearance at Bridgewater College is part of the college’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration, which is held after his official birthday observation so that all staff and students – some of whom are absent from campus in January – may participate.
“Dr. King’s legacy is one that should be embraced, celebrated and actualized each day of the year by all Americans,” said Stephanie Wilson, director of multicultural services at Bridgewater. “I know it is a lofty ideal, but it’s one worth pursuing, that all of humanity should be recognized, appreciated and embraced.”
Wilson said it is imperative that people, in the words of King, “will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
Haygood’s lecture, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the Anna B. Mow Lecture Series and the Center for Cultural Engagement at Bridgewater College.
Bridgewater College is a private, four-year liberal arts college located in the Central Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Founded in 1880, it was the state’s first private, coeducational college. Today, Bridgewater College is home to approximately 1,850 undergraduate students.
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