Winter Convocation 2009

Selinsgrove, (Pa.)—One day before the historic inauguration of Barack Obama, former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder was the featured speaker Jan. 19 at Susquehanna University’s third annual Winter Convocation on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The topic of Wilder’s address was, “Martin Luther King Jr. and the Work Still to Be Done.”

Wilder became the nation’s first elected African-American governor in 1990 and served in that capacity until 1994. He also served as Virginia’s lieutenant governor in 1985, making him the nation’s highest ranking elected African-American at the time, and he served for a number of years in the Virginia state legislature. In 2004, after championing the creation of an elected mayor position in Virginia’s capital city, Richmond, he became its first elected mayor.

A truncated class schedule allowed all university faculty, staff and students to observe Martin Luther King Day as a community. Susquehanna President L. Jay Lemons provided opening remarks and discussed how the legacy of Martin Luther King continues to challenge and inspire all Americans. Chaplain Mark Radecke offered remarks during the convocation.

The Susquehanna University Symphonic Band, conducted by Eric Hinton, will perform Celebration by Adolphus Hailstork and A Movement for Rosa by Mark Camphouse. The Susquehanna University Chorale, directed by Judith White, will perform This Little Light of Mine by Moses Hogan. The Susquehanna University Jazz Ensemble, conducted by Josh Davis, will close the musical offerings with the Charles Mingus piece Better Git Hit in Your Soul, as arranged by Sy Johnson.