The time of the North Central College Martin Luther King Jr. Week keynote address by author and actor Hill Harper has been changed to 5PM on Monday, Jan. 21.
Harper’s talk was scheduled for 7PM, but President Barack Obama has asked him to attend a post-inauguration event that evening in Washington, D.C. In August, Obama appointed Harper to a key administration post on the president’s three-member Cancer Panel, which is responsible for monitoring the development and execution of the activities of the National Cancer Program.
Harper’s talk, “Being an Active Architect of Your Own Life,” begins at 5PM Monday, Jan. 21, in the College’s Wentz Concert Hall at the Fine Arts Center, 171 E. Chicago Ave. Admission at the door is $5.
A star of the TV drama “CSI: NY” and author of four New York Times bestsellers, Harper has earned seven NAACP Image Awards for his writing and acting. He is founder of the Manifest Your Destiny Foundation, which serves youths through mentorship, scholarship and grant programs.
Harper graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. from Brown University and cum laude with a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He holds a master’s degree with honors from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and honorary doctoral degrees from six institutions. As a speaker he addresses a wide range of audiences, including youth, adults, couples and business leaders. In 2010, Harper was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. His 2011 bestselling book, “The Wealth Cure: Putting Money in Its Place,” chronicles the cancer diagnosis and his journey to health.
Harper’s talk is part of Martin Luther King Jr. Week at North Central College. King spoke in North Central College’s Pfeiffer Hall in 1960. This year’s celebration Jan. 20-26 includes the Chicago Sinfonietta performance of its “Annual Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.” with featured Metropolitan Opera clarinetist Anthony McGill, renowned vocalist Robert Sims and the award-winning Waubonsie Valley High School Mosaic Choir. The performance begins at 3PM Sunday, Jan. 20, in North Central’s Wentz Concert Hall at the Fine Arts Center, 171 E. Chicago Ave. Tickets are $50, $40 and $10/children and students; call the North Central College Box Office at 630-637-SHOW (7469) or visit northcentralcollege.edu/show.
The College presents a Poetry Slam featuring New York’s Carlos Andres Gomez and student poets at 7PM Friday, Jan. 25, at The Union, 129 W. Benton Ave., Naperville. Tickets are $12 at the door and $10 in advance; call the box office at 630-637-SHOW (7469) or visit northcentralcollege.edu/showtix.
The week concludes with the College’s 25th Gospel Extravaganza at 7PM Saturday, Jan. 26, in Pfeiffer Hall, 310 E. Benton Ave. Tickets are $15/adults, $10/students and senior citizens; call the North Central College Box Office at 630-637-SHOW (7469) or visit northcentralcollege.edu/show. The lineup includes headliner Dexter Walker and Zion Movement Chorale, North Central’s own Voices of Praise gospel choir with alumni of the choir, the Wheaton College Gospel Choir, Voices of Praise Gospel Choir from the DuPage African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Lisle and dancer-choreographer Glorielle Williams.
