Posted on Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Westminster College will celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King with various activities Jan. 18-23.
Tuesday, Jan. 18, from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. birthday cake will be served in the Orchard Street Café.
Wednesday, Jan. 19, at 11:40 a.m. there is an hour of prayer in Wallace Memorial Chapel.
Thursday, Jan. 20, at 7 p.m. the Westminster College Gospel Choir will present a concert in Wallace Memorial Chapel. Sodexho Dining Service will provide an International Day Menu which includes: Canja Soup from Brazil; Colcannon Soup from Ireland; Ghanaian, a salad from South Africa; T'ibs We't, a fried beef stew and Yesinde Injera, a bread from Ethiopia; Bubble and Squeak from England; Frango ao Catupiry from Brazil; Schnitz und Knepp from Germany; and Beans Thoren from India.
Friday, Jan. 21, at 11:40 a.m. in Wallace Memorial Chapel Westminster will welcome speaker Ken Seamans, the current Wilmington Township Supervisor, one time Mercer County Commissioner, and former member of Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department. Seamans was a policeman in the nation's capital during the 60s and 70s and a member of the first integrated police team in 1964. He also served on several security details to protect King. Seamans will discuss his police experience and the times he met Dr. King.
Monday, Jan. 24, at 7 p.m. J.T. Thomas, the first African-American football player at Florida State University, will speak in Wallace Memorial Chapel. Originally from Macon, Ga., Thomas excelled in football, basketball, and track at Lanier Central High Military School. In 1969, he accepted a full scholarship at Florida State, where he majored in business. After graduation he became the number one draft pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he was a member of the "Steel Curtain" defense, which won four Super Bowls during the 70s.
During his football career, he also worked as a sales representative and broker for Lincoln National Life, Prudential and Research Underwriter Property and Casualty Company. From 1976-78, Thomas was employed by the U.S. Department of Commerce in a program co-sponsored by the NFL to align college students with major corporations in the private sector for employment while in college and permanent employment upon graduation.
After his retirement from football, he opened Chin's Rice Bowl, an oriental-themed restaurant, and became a Burger King and then Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar franchisee. He is currently president of Three Rivers Barbeque, LLC, d/b/a Red Hot & Blue a Southern Grill & Bar restaurant.
Thomas is a member of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Pittsburgh, where he served for 12 years as an organist and pianist for the Young Adult Choir. He is also a Board member of Christian Life Skills Inc. (mentoring program), the Afro-American Music Institute, Coalition for Christian Outreach, and coordinator of the Boyz to Men Mentoring Ministry at Ebenezer Baptist Church.
The events are co-sponsored by the Westminster College Diversity Services Office and the Westminster College Chapel Office. For more information, contact Jeannette Hooks, director of diversity services, at (724) 946-7179 or e-mail hooksj@westminster.edu; or the Rev. James Mohr, college chaplain, at (724) 946-7116 or e-mail mohrjr@westminster.edu.
