The UNC Charlotte Office of Identity, Equity, and Engagement will host the University’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration, which honors the life, work, and legacy of Dr. King. The program also will feature recognition of campus partners and a candle lighting ceremony.
As part of the festivities, Dorothy Counts-Scoggins will discuss her experience as one of the first African American students to integrate Harding High School in 1957. 
Her talk, which is free and open to the public is scheduled for 3:30 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 22 in the Cone University Center, McKnight Hall.
The UNC Charlotte community is encouraged to participate in the following events as part of the University’s MLK Celebration:
March and Speak Out – Tuesday, Jan 15
Participants will march from Cato Hall to the Popp Martin Student Union from noon to 2 p.m., where members of the UNC Charlotte community can share their thoughts on MLK Jr. and injustices that have occurred in local communities and how their comments relate to the theme, “Thinking of a Better Tomorrow.”
MLK Day of Service – Friday, Jan. 25
Honor the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. by volunteering within the Charlotte community. There will be a luncheon from noon to 12:30 p.m. at the Popp Martin Student Union Rotunda with the service opportunities between 1 and 4 p.m.; volunteers can sign up to help with one of the following:
- Promising Pages
- Habitat for Humanity
- Charlotte Community Toolbank
- Crisis Assistance Ministry
- Second Harvest Food Bank
About Dorothy Counts-Scoggins
On the first day of school in 1957, Dorothy Counts-Scoggins was met with an angry crowd of students and adults. She was pushed, spat on and endured racial slurs as she walked toward Harding High School. Students taunted her by throwing sticks and stones as she walked into the building. While in the classroom Counts-Scoggins was relegated to the back of the classroom, where teachers and administrators ignored her presence.
A local civil rights icon, Counts-Scoggins is retired from Child Care Resources Inc., a private nonprofit care resource and referral agency that works with families and communities to help high-quality and affordable early education opportunities. She continues to be active in her community, Biddleville-Smallwood, as a speaker at local schools.