Goshen College announces 2024 Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration
For more information about this year’s event, visit goshen.edu/mlk.
Goshen College is set to host its annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration on Jan. 13-15, 2024. This year’s theme, “Black Housing and Unsung Sheroes, Champions of Change in Elkhart County,” will focus on key issues surrounding housing and honor individuals making a difference in the local community.
The keynote speaker for the event is Cyneatha Millsaps, executive director of the Center for Community Engagement at Goshen College. Millsaps, a seasoned leader with a diverse background, will shed light on the values and ideals that characterized King’s work.
The three-day celebration on campus will include a series of public events, starting with a poetry reading by Allison Joseph on Saturday, Jan. 13 at 7:30 p.m. in Umble Center. Joseph is a poet who directs the MFA Program in Creative Writing at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois.
Sunday, Jan. 14 will feature a sermon delivered by Millsaps at 9:30 a.m. at College Mennonite Church during their worship service.
On Monday, Jan. 15, the celebration will continue with convocation featuring a message by Millsaps at 10 a.m. in the Church-Chapel, followed by a reception.
The afternoon will include a 2:15 p.m. documentary film screening of “What Happened at Benham West: African American Stories of Community, Displacement and Hope,” in Umble Center with a question and answer and reception to follow.
The documentary collects elders’ stories of Elkhart’s predominantly African American Benham West neighborhood and documents the process of the city’s eventual clearing of the neighborhood. Nekeisha Alayna Alexis, intercultural competence and undoing racism coordinator at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS), and Jamie Pitts, associate professor of Anabaptist studies and director of the Institute of Mennonite Studies at AMBS, coordinated the documentary, and Oliver Pettis of Black Lion Cinematography was the filmmaker.
The celebration is an opportunity for the community to come together, reflect on King’s legacy and engage in meaningful conversation about social justice and community empowerment.
KEYNOTE SPEAKER INFORMATION
Cyneatha Millsaps started working at Goshen College in April 2022 as the Director of Elkhart City Outreach within the Center for Community Engagement, before being named executive director of the program in January of 2023. She is also the Executive Director of Mennonite Women USA, where she provides leadership for women’s groups and individuals domestically and internationally. She has also been a pastor, leading congregations and communities for over 17 years.
Millsaps received her bachelor’s degree in psychology and sociology at Bethel College (now University) in Mishawaka, in 2000 and her Master of Divinity degree from the Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in 2008. She is the founder of BAPS (Black American Princesses), a mentoring program for young African American females between the ages of 8-17 as well as the Chair of the Board for the Tolson Center for Community Excellence in Elkhart. She is married to Steven Millsaps, and together they have seven children and 22 grandchildren.
2024 Event Schedule
Students may receive up to 2 convocation credits for GC sponsored King Celebration venue events.
Saturday, January 13
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Allison Joseph 7:30 p.m. – Guest lecture: Poetry reading with Allison Joseph, Umble Center
- Joseph is a poet who directs the MFA Program in Creative Writing at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois.
Sunday, January 14
- 9:30 a.m. – Worship Service: Sermon by Cyneatha Millsaps, College Mennonite Church (livestream)
- Millsaps is the executive director of Goshen College’s Center for Community Engagement
Monday, January 15
- 10-11:15 a.m. – Convocation: Cyneatha Millsaps, Church-Chapel (livestream)
- Reception to follow, Church-Chapel, South Fellowship Hall
- 1 p.m. – Workshop for Black Students, Faculty, and Staff: “Rising Beyond: Navigating Black Narratives,” Church-Chapel Fellowship Hall
- Not open to the public
- 2:15-4 p.m. – Documentary: “What Happened at Benham West: African American Stories of Community, Displacement and Hope,” Umble Center
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Nekeisha Alayna Alexis The documentary collects elders’ stories of Elkhart’s predominantly African American Benham West neighborhood and documents the process of the city’s eventual clearing of the neighborhood. Nekeisha Alayna Alexis, intercultural competence and undoing racism coordinator at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS), and Jamie Pitts, associate professor of Anabaptist studies and director of the Institute of Mennonite Studies at AMBS, coordinated the documentary, and Oliver Pettis of Black Lion Cinematography was the filmmaker.
- Q&A session (Benham West elders & Nekeisha Alayna Alexis) and reception to follow
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CO-SPONSORED BY: Goshen College’s Office of Student Life; Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; and English Department