North Carolina Central University will celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with a week of events from Monday, Jan. 10, through Monday, Jan. 17. All events are free and open to the public.

On Monday, NCCU will host a Share Our Shoes Rally from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Alfonso Elder Student Union. Gently used shoes will be collected and donated to Share Our Shoes (SOS), a Raleigh nonprofit, in support of the Haiti Project. SOS, in partnership with NCCU men’s basketball coach Levelle Moton, who is the official SOS spokesperson, has set a goal of collecting 1 million pairs of shoes to donate to Haiti. The rally will include raffle prizes from event sponsors including Rapid Fitness, Fleet Feet Sports, Omega Sports, Sonics and Foot Solutions, as well as a presentation by the NCCU men’s basketball team and a final weigh-in of all the shoes collected.

A Unity March and wreath-laying ceremony at the Centennial Garden will take place on Tuesday at 10:40 a.m. The Durham community is invited to meet at the front entrance of the Alfonso Elder Student Union and proceed to the Centennial Garden, where two wreaths honoring Dr. King and Coretta Scott King will be placed. Event speakers include North Carolina NAACP President Dr. William Barber as well as NCCU faculty and staff.

On Wednesday, NCCU law professor Timothy Peterkin will provide an overview of the contemporary civil rights movement at noon in the Turner Law Building, Room 102. Peterkin will discuss the 14th and 15th amendments and the implications of fair and equal applications of the law on the lives of citizens in the United States. The first 50 participants will receive lunch.

Civil Rights giant and U.S. Congressman John Lewis (D – Ga.) will speak at the Martin Luther King Convocation on Thursday, Jan. 13, at 9:45 a.m. in the McDougald–McLendon Gymnasium. Lewis has been called “one of the most courageous persons the civil rights movement ever produced,” and has dedicated his life to protecting human rights and securing civil liberties. Lewis has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1986. During the convocation, the university will present its first MLK Social Justice Awards.

The MLK Man Up Conference will take place on Saturday, Jan. 15, in the Alfonso Elder Student Union from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The conference is designed to bring males together to build skills that enhance personal development. Several workshop topics will be presented including: Spirituality and Wellness, Working Through Difficult Relationships, Living in an E-World and Recalling the Journey. A networking luncheon will round out the day.

NCCU and Habitat for Humanity will break ground on the third Eagle Habitat home on Monday, Jan. 17. The home is at 609 Hickory St., near the NCCU campus. Volunteers are needed from 8 a.m. to noon and noon to 4 p.m.

Additional events include “Remembering Haiti: What Can We Do Now?” film and discussion at 6 p.m., on Jan. 10, in the student union, and the annual Fulfilling the Dream Blood Drive on Jan. 17, from 3 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., in the Miller-Morgan Building.

For more information on any of the MLK events, contact the Alfonso Elder Student Union at (919) 530-6486.