Press Releases

November 7, 1997
Southampton College Hosts First Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration

Committee for Campus Diversity, along with Anthony Fitchue, Dir. of Multicultural Programs, Present Lecture by Rev. Calvin O. Butts III, Gospel Music & Essay Contest

Contact: Jane Finalborgo, Joe Dionisio
(516) 287 8313
Fax: (516) 283 4081

Southampton, NY -- The Reverend Dr. Calvin O. Butts III, Pastor of Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church, will be the keynote speaker at the 1st Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration on Thursday, Feb. 5, 1998, at 7 p.m. in the Fine Arts Theatre at Southampton College of Long Island University.

The Celebration, which is open to the public, will commemorate the exemplary life and humanitarian efforts of the slain civil rights leader. Events will include gospel music by L.I.V., a college-wide essay contest headed by Social Science Professor John Strong, and an evening program involving Southampton College faculty, staff, students and the community.

The tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. is organized by Southampton College's Committee for Campus Diversity, which is chaired by Gina Savarese, Associate Director and Registrar of the Friends World Program, and by Dr. M. Anthony Fitchue, who was named Director of Multicultural Programs and the Study Center on Sept. 16.

Dr. Fitchue, who held a similar position at LeMoyne College, has taught courses at several colleges, including African American Studies at SUNY Cortland, and Foundations of Education at LeMoyne. He possesses broad international experience, having served as a foreign service officer with the U.S. Information Agency, a Cultural Attache' in West Africa at the U.S. Embassy in Mali, and later as Vice Consul at the U.S. Consulate in Madras, India. He holds master's degrees from Columbia and Harvard.

While King's Jan. 15 birthday is observed nationally on Jan. 19, the College will use the Feb. 5th celebration to kick off African-American History Month.

"We want the Southampton College community to celebrate the exceptional journey of a man whose innate creative genius is still available to us," said Dr. Fitchue. "King led people from all walks of life against the violence of human injustice and poverty."

Dr. Butts, pastor at the Abyssinian Baptist Church, arguably New York City's most socially active church, will be featured in a lecture in the Southampton College Fine Arts Theatre on Feb. 5 at 7 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public.

Preceding Dr. Butts as pastor at the Abyssinian Baptist Church was the late and legendary Adam Clayton Powell, a pioneer African-American Congressman from Harlem who became chair of the House of Representatives' Labor and Education Committee in 1961.

Dr. Butts, a prominent civil rights activist since the 1960s, helped establish the Thurgood Marshall Academy, and has taught Urban Affairs at City College, and Black Church History at Fordham University. A board member of the United Way, he is at the vanguard of topical issues such as negative rap lyrics, drug use and exploitive advertising. He also led a group which painted over liquor and cigarette advertisements which were prominently featured on inner city buildings.

Dr. Butts holds degrees from Morehouse College, Union Theological Seminary and Drew University.

For further information on the MLK Jr. Celebration, call the Southampton College Office of Multicultural Programs at (516) 287-8356.