Theologian Vincent Harding, civil rights pioneer Doris Derby and a worship service featuring a Presbyterian pastor from South Africa—not to mention Emory’s now-traditional day of tree planting—will highlight the University’s 2001 Martin Luther King Week activities.

Emory will once again partner with Trees Atlanta to plant trees in the historic King district, focusing this year on Jackson Street.

Coordinated by Volunteer Emory, the project has been very popular with Atlantans and Emory students, staff and faculty in the past. To volunteer, call 404-727-6268.

One of this year’s two featured speakers, Derby is director of the Office of African American Student Services and Programs at Georgia State University, and a former member of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee.

An artist and educator, Derby will speak at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 16, on her pioneering work in the Mississippi Delta during the civil rights movement. Her personal papers and photographs make up the accompanying Woodruff Library exhibit, “Fertile Ground: The Civil Rights Movement and Its Legacy in the Mississippi Delta.”

Harding, professor of religion and social transformation at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, will lead a forum at 7 p.m., Jan. 16, on the role of race and justice in American society.

Harding has a long history of involvement in peace and justice movements, including the Southern black freedom struggle. He was the first director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Non-Violent Social Change and served as director and chairperson of The Institute of the Black World. He was senior academic consultant to the award-winning PBS television series, “Eyes on the Prize.”

The University’s ecumenical worship service on Sunday, Jan. 21, will feature the Very Most Rev. Maake Masango, pastor of St. Giles Presbyterian Church in Johannesburg, South Africa. Masango has hosted groups from Emory the last two summers as part of the University’s “journeys of reconciliation.”

Another popular annual event is the jazz vespers service presided over by Dwight Andrews, Emory music professor and senior minister at Atlanta’s First Congregational Church. This year’s service will be at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 18, in Cannon Chapel.

All King Week activities are free and open to the public.

For more information, go to www.sph.emory.edu/AWARDS/kingweek.html or call 404-727-4148.

A full listing of King Week events are at