Professional theatre group Breaking Ice highlights Goshen College’s 13th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Study Day Jan. 16

January 3, 2006

Tuesday, January 3, 2006

Professional theatre group Breaking Ice highlights Goshen College’s 13th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Study Day Jan. 16

GOSHEN, Ind. – Goshen College will honor the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr. by holding its 13^th annual all-school Martin Luther King Jr. Study Day, emphasizing the values and ideals that characterized King’s work, on Monday, Jan. 16.

The featured guest during the day’s activities is the professional theatre group Breaking Ice. They will offer a stimulating and entertaining performance program that gets to the heart of difficult issues, like racism. Each performance is created for the specific circumstances of its presentation, an original theater piece using poetry, music, movement and structured improvisation to bring tough issues to life. The facilitated discussion that will follow provides the forum for participants to explore the issues together. Breaking Ice is a program of Pillsbury House Theatre and a strategy of Pillsbury United Communities.

Breaking Ice and Voices-n-Harmony will perform at 7:30 a.m. during the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Prayer Breakfast in the Church-Chapel Fellowship Hall. Voices-n-Harmony is Goshen College’s Gospel choir directed by Patrice Penny Henderson of Elkhart, Ind. The choir includes Goshen College students, faculty, staff and community members from a diverse mix of cultural backgrounds and ages who sing to proclaim the power of God’s love. Advance registration is required; tickets for the breakfast are $15 per person or $120 for a table of eight and must be reserved by Jan. 12. For more information about the prayer breakfast, or to reserve a seat or table, call the Welcome Center at (574) 535-7566.

Photos from Goshen College’s 2005 MLK Study Day

Breaking Ice will perform during a convocation at 10 a.m. in the Church-Chapel. Voices-n-Harmony Choir will also sing during the convocation.

Goshen College’s Director of the Multicultural Affairs Office Odelet Nance said, “Goshen College’s MLK Day is a time for reflection on the legacy of Dr. King and his dream. MLK Day encourages us to examine our commitment to social justice on our campus, our community and our world. As the demographics of our country are rapidly changing, we must strategically work in unity to ensure that everyone is treated with dignity and respect. The Breaking Ice theatrical performance group will allow us to observe dramatic scenes from our past and present so that we may construct an action plan for our future.

The complete Goshen College Martin Luther King Jr. Study Day schedule follows:

7:30 a.m. – Community Prayer Breakfast, Church-Chapel Fellowship Hall; sponsored by Goshen College, Goshen Health System, Chamber of Commerce and Goshen Ministerial Association. Registration begins at 7:15 a.m.

· Presentation – Breaking Ice, drama troupe

· Music – Goshen College Voices-n-Harmony

· Prayer – local ministers

9-10 a.m. – A celebration of peace with the arts, Church-Chapel

· A poetry reading by Goshen College students

· Storytelling by Vernell Ball-Jackson from South Bend about the civil rights era, peace and justice issues, African-American history and Martin Luther King Jr.

· Voices-n-Harmony gospel choir

10-11 a.m. – Study Day Convocation, Church-Chapel

· Performance and discussion by Breaking Ice, drama troupe

· Music by Goshen College Voices-n-Harmony.

11:15 a.m.-12:30 p.m., All-campus town hall meeting, Fellowship Hall

This is an opportunity for discussion about the connections between Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the Goshen College campus.

12:30-1:30 p.m. – MLK mix-it-up lunch, Cafeteria

Clips from King’s famous speeches will be played during lunch. Lunch costs $6.52 plus tax.

2-4 p.m. – Afternoon film festival: “Guess Who” (2005) and “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” (1967), Administration Building, Room 28

Clips from these films will be shown, raising issues around interracial relationships. Professor of English Ann Hostetler will lead a discussion about the films.

Goshen College’s Martin Luther King Jr. Study Day is sponsored in part by the Plowshares Peace Collaborative. For more information about the study day, call the Multicultural Affairs Office at (574) 535-7548. All events are free, except the Community Prayer Breakfast and the lunch, and open to the public.

The Church-Chapel and Administration Building are accessible to people using wheelchairs and others with physical limitations.

Editors: For more information about this release, to arrange an interview or request a photo, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” “Making a Difference College Guide” and U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit www.goshen.edu.