On the evening of April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated while standing on the balcony of his motel room in
Memphis, Tenn. As America mourned his passing, the nation recalled a life filled with far-reaching public service and passionate leadership of the civil rights movement.
On Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009, at 5 p.m. in the McNeil Science and
Technology Center, State Representative James R. Roebuck, Jr., will speak on the life and legacy of Dr. King during University of the Sciences’ annual program to honor Dr. King’s vision for freedom, opportunity, and justice for all. The event is free and open to the public.
A State Representative in the Pennsylvania State Legislature since 1985, Rep. Roebuck has a longstanding background in leadership and social activism. As a graduate student at University of Virginia in the 1960’s, a period of social unrest around the Vietnam War and racial inequality, Rep. Roebuck was selected as the University’s first African-American Student Council President. While working with the University President, Rep. Roebuck assisted undergraduates and graduates in forming the Black Students for Freedom, later renamed the Black Student Alliance.
Years later, Rep. Roebuck continues to support youth leadership with the Jim Roebuck Leadership Award, presented yearly to deserving students from each school district in West Philadelphia.
For more information Rep. James Roebuck, please visit
http://www.pahouse.com/roebuck/.