Robyn R. Render, vice president for information resources and chief information officer in the office of the president at The University of North Carolina, will deliver the keynote address as the Western Carolina University community holds special events Jan. 20-23 to honor the memory of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

The theme for the week is “One Nation .... One Dream. The Dream Is In Our Hand.” Scheduled activities include a unity march, candlelight vigil, jazz performance, puppet show, semi-formal dinner and community service day.

Among the highlights of the week will be an evening program Wednesday, Jan. 21, sponsored by the Office of the Chancellor and featuring the address by Render, titled “Celebrating MLK in the 21st Century.” The program will begin at 7 p.m. in the multipurpose room in the A.K. Hinds University Center.

Render, who served as chief information officer at N.C. Central University prior to joining the UNC system staff, serves on the board of directors for EDUCAUSE, a non-profit association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology. She also is an active participant in the Advanced Networking with Minority Serving Institutions (AM-MSI), initiative and has co-authored articles on quality improvement in teaching and learning with technology.

Events on Thursday, Jan. 22, will begin at 10 a.m. with a puppet show at Western’s Kneedler Child Care Center. A semi-formal dinner will be held in the multipurpose room of the University Center at 7:30 p.m., which will include a PowerPoint presentation of the week’s events. Beginning at 8:30 p.m., the six historically African-American fraternities and sororities at Western will present “A Walk Thru Time,” a presentation on the role Martin Luther King Jr. has played in the development of these organizations.

The celebration will conclude on Friday, Jan. 23, with a community service day at the AME Mount Zion Church. All events are free and open to the public. For additional information, contact Dwaun Warmack, director of multicultural affairs, at 828.227.2276.