The College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University, along with other organizations in the St. Cloud area, are proud to support St. Cloud State University and the City of St. Cloud’s annual MLK Community Celebration, a weeklong series of events observing the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday on Jan. 20.
Classes do not resume for the second semester at CSB and SJU until Jan. 21. But the MLK Community Celebration events offer members of the two campus communities the chance to focus on Dr. King’s life and work, and the ways in which the causes and efforts he championed can be continued today.
“At CSB and SJU, we believe that honoring Dr. King’s legacy is not just about reflecting on his remarkable contributions to justice, equality and community, but about actively continuing his work in our own lives and institutions,” CSB and SJU President Brian J. Bruess said. “Supporting events like the MLK Community Celebration is essential to our commitment to fostering inclusion, equity and belonging — not just on our campuses but in the broader St. Cloud community.
“These moments of shared learning and connection remind us of our responsibility to build a more just and compassionate world, together.”
“We’re a few minutes from St. Cloud, but we’re still a part of the community, and to be able to celebrate with other community members like this provides a chance for a really wonderful experience to learn and (share in) fellowship,” added Sandra Mitchell, the senior diversity officer at CSB and SJU.
“One of the things that has concerned me over the past few years I’ve been here is that sometimes we celebrate the MLK Day holiday as a day off,” Mitchell continued. “Nothing could be further from the truth of what this holiday stands for. Instead of looking at it as a day off, we should be looking at it as a day on.
“It’s a chance to focus on the importance of coming together as community, as well as a time to examine what we as community members can do to give back to others around us. I hope folks here will take the time to reflect on Dr. King and his legacy, and how we can each continue that work in our own lives for the betterment of our community.”
The celebration begins with the MLK Family Day Celebration from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 18, at St. Cloud State’s Atwood Memorial Center. That will be followed by MLK Spirit Day, a cross-denominational praise and worship celebration scheduled from 4 to 6 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 19, at Salem Lutheran Church, located at 90 Riverside Drive SE in St. Cloud.
The centerpiece event is the MLK Community Celebration, which is scheduled for 8 to 10:30 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 20, at the River’s Edge Convention Center in downtown St. Cloud. The event is free, but registration is required. It will begin with a community conversation before the announcement of the winners of the 2025 MLK Celebration Humanitarian Award and the Dexter R. Stanton Essay and Visual Art Contest.
Then, a keynote address will be delivered by Dr. Evelyn Hill, a county commissioner in Wyandotte County, Kansas, and a longtime member of the Kansas City, Kansas Board of Education. She is also the author of a number of books, has pastored two churches and helped form the Justice and Equity Coalition, which works to find solution-based strategies for underserved communities in metropolitan areas across the U.S.
The week continues Wednesday, Jan. 21, with MLK Night at the Paramount, located at 913 West St. Germain Street in downtown St. Cloud. That event is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
Information on all these events and more can be found here.
“Community is one of our key institutional values at CSB and SJU,” said Malik Stewart, director of the CSB and SJU Multicultural Center. “Obviously, that means on campus, but not only on campus. It’s always meant caring about the wider community we’re a part of, which is why it’s important for us to be involved in events like this.”