2020 MLK Celebration Luncheon – A Conversation with Civil Rights Leader Diane Nash

The fifth annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Luncheon sponsored by the Office of the President and the Oversight Committee on Diversity and Inclusion had Diane Nash as the keynote speaker. Nash became a leader in the Civil Rights Movement in 1959 while a student at Fisk University. By the time she was 22, Nash was a Freedom Rider and had co-founded the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). She worked closely with Dr. King and played a pivotal role in the Selma Voting Rights Movement.

Rev. Hugh R. Page Jr., vice president and associate provost for undergraduate affairs and professor of theology and Africana studies, emceed the event.

“Our hope is that today’s luncheon will allow all who are part of the Notre Dame family to think about how to be effective stewards of Dr. King’s legacy,” Rev. Page said.

Asmaa El Messnaoui, program director at the Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion, delivered the invocation. Aaron Benavides, a junior studying political science and theology, delivered the benediction.

Father Jenkins, in his opening remarks, thanked Nash for participating in the event and encouraged students, faculty and staff to “listen and be inspired by Nash’s selfless resolute courage so that we might become more sanctified and holy.”

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