Alpha Phi Alpha MLK Jr. Prayer Breakfast, Textbook Scholarship Awards Recognition set for Jan. 17 at USM

Wed, 01/05/2022 - 04:16pm | By: David Tisdale

Editor's Note: MLK Jr. Prayer Breakfast and Scholarship Awards Recognition cancelled due to Covid-19 spread

The 16th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Ecumenical and Interracial Prayer Breakfast will be held Monday, Jan. 17 beginning at 7:30 a.m. in The University of Southern Mississippi's (USM) Thad Cochran Center on the Hattiesburg campus. Admission is free, but seating will be limited, and masks will be required per Covid-19 protocols.

Presented by the Mu Gamma Lambda and Mu Xi chapters of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., the event will feature a keynote address by Mississippi Commissioner of Higher Education Dr. Alfred Rankins Jr., as well as recognition of recipients of the fraternity's Community Service, Community Impact, Humanitarian, Douglass T. Baker and Friend of Alpha Phi Alpha awards.

The fraternity’s Academic Textbook Scholarships will also be awarded during the program to students from area high schools who plan to go to college next fall and have been recommended by their high school’s academic counselors. The scholarship award is made in conjunction with Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity’s "Go To High School - Go To College" program. Established in 1922, this program concentrates on the importance of completing secondary and collegiate education for future success.

Alpha Phi Alpha welcomes the opportunity to host this event in honor of Dr. King’s legacy, with the goal of bringing together like-minded people to offer prayers of understanding and oneness of heart for the benefit of the community, said USM Dean of Students Emeritus Dr. Eddie Holloway, longtime chairman of the event. 

“I am so pleased that we are able to resume the prayer breakfast in-person, and grateful to our fraternity brother, Dr. Rankins, for being our keynote speaker,” Dr. Holloway said. “We look forward to seeing all who can attend join us for a nourishing meal and a time of prayerful reflection, friendship, gratitude and goodwill that I hope will inspire the best in all of us for the new year.”

For information on how to support this event and its book scholarships, contact Dr. Holloway at eddie.holloway@usm.edu.