By: Marc Ransford—
Muncie,IN — Jasmine Rand, an attorney for the families of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, is the keynote speaker for Ball State University’s Unity Week 2018.
The attorney’s lecture, “Modern Civil Rights Movement,” begins at 7:30 p.m. January 16 in Pruis Hall. Her lecture is free and open to the public, just like all Unity Week events.
The National Bar Association recognized her as one of the nation’s Top 40 Lawyers under 40 in the United States. She now shares her insight, experience, and pioneering efforts for social justice and empowerment through her extensive experience, expert teachings and unmatched passion.
Her work with the Trayvon Martin case has led her to make many media appearances on networks such as CNN, MSNBC, and Fox and international networks in Jamaica, Columbia, and Japan.
In addition to being the founding attorney of RAND LAW, L.L.C., a Miami-based civil litigation firm, she is a national legal analyst, international legal consultant, columnist, professor, lecturer, and civil rights leader.
The attorney’s keynote address is just one of many events happening during Ball State’s 38th annual Unity Week, taking place from January 15-21. This year’s Unity Week aims to challenge perspectives on matters of diversity, inclusivity, and solidarity in an evolving social climate.
Other Unity Week events include:
- MLK Community Breakfast, 9 a.m. January 15, Student Center Cardinal Hall
- Unity March following the MLK Community Breakfast January 15, starting at the Multicultural Center on the corner of McKinley and North Street
- Consent, Culture, and Conversations dialogue, 6:30 p.m. January 17, Student Center 301/302
- Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Concert, 7:30 p.m. January 17, Sursa Hall
- Tunnel of Oppression (and interactive simulation exploring oppression of social groups), 6 p.m. January 18, Student Center Ballroom
- Latinopalooza (Latinx Student Union-sponsored, noncompetitive showcase of talents of Ball State students), 6 p.m. January 19, Student Center Ballroom
- Film: “Marshall,” 3 p.m. January 20, Student Center Cardinal Hall
- Unity Scholarship Pageant, 7 p.m. January 21, Pruis Hall
The MLK Community Breakfast will feature Jerry L. Maynard, Sr. He is the current pastor of Cathedral of Praise in Nashville, Tennessee, and has about 55 years of experience in pastoral ministry. In April 2017, he was elected vice chairman of the General Assembly of the Church of God in Christ. He received his bachelor’s degree in social science and psychology from Ball State.
Unity Week is sponsored by the Multicultural Center, Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Services, Office of Institutional Diversity, Housing and Residence Life, School of Music, Asian American Student Association, Black Student Association, Latinx Student Union, Spectrum, Step In. Speak Up., and University Program Board.
For more information about the week, visit bsu.edu/unityweek or contact the Multicultural Center at 765-285-1344 mc2@bsu.edu in advance of the program.
About Ball State University
Founded in 1918 and located in Muncie, Ball State is one of Indiana’s signature universities and an economic driver for the state. The University’s 2017-18 enrollment – 22,513 – is the largest in school history and its freshman class of 4,002 is just three students shy of a school record. Every Indiana county is represented among Ball State’s student body, as are all 50 states and 68 countries. Ball State’s 731-acre campus is large enough to accommodate premier facilities and 19 NCAA Division I sports, but small enough to ensure the friendliness, personal attention, and access that are the hallmarks of the University, where 90 percent of classes are taught by faculty. Ball State had its smallest tuition increase in 41 years for fiscal years 2018 and 2019.
