The Mu Gamma Lambda and Mu Xi chapters of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. will host the 19th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Ecumenical and Scholarship Prayer Breakfast beginning at 7:30 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 20, in the Thad Cochran Center ballrooms at The University of Southern Mississippi’s Hattiesburg campus. Admission is free and members of the university and local communities are invited to attend.
Carlton Reeves, district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi and chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, will serve as guest speaker. A native of Fort Hood, Texas, Reeves grew up in Yazoo City, Miss. and was a student in the first integrated public-school classroom in the state; he was also the first in his family to attend college, earning an undergraduate degree–magna cum laude–from Jackson State University and a law degree from the University of Virginia. He served as a law clerk for Judge Reuben Anderson, the first African American to serve on the Mississippi Supreme Court.
The event will also include recognition of local citizens for service to the Southern Miss and Hattiesburg communities, and the awarding of textbook scholarships to local high school seniors planning to attend college in the fall as part of Alpha Phi Alpha’s “Go to High School, Go to College” educational initiative.
“For nearly two decades, our fraternity has been honored with the privilege of bringing this event to the university and Hattiesburg communities in the spirit of fellowship and to remember a great man who advanced the best of humanity,” said Dr. Eddie Holloway, coordinator of the prayer breakfast.
“We’re grateful to Judge Reeves for serving as guest speaker and, as always, we happily welcome everyone to join us for a great breakfast, prayer, music and to honor local citizens for their work to make the Pine Belt a wonderful place to live and work,” Holloway added.