NEWS RELEASE

CONTACT:

January 13, 2015

Jack Beresford
jberesford@sdccd.edu
619-388-6540
@SDJackB

District Celebrates MLKs Legacy

Chancellor Carroll to be honored with YMCAs Human Dignity Award
The San Diego Community College District (SDCCD) will celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr.s legacy and vision this weekend through participation in several community events.
More than 400 from the district are expected for the 30th Annual YMCA of San Diego County
MLK Breakfast on Friday, the San Diego MLK Educators Breakfast on Saturday, the
Multicultural Festival on Saturday, the citywide MLK Parade on Sunday afternoon, and the
MLK All Peoples Celebration on Monday morning. Attendees will include SDCCD Chancellor
Constance M. Carroll and members of the SDCCD Board of Trustees, presidents from City,
Mesa, and Miramar colleges, and Continuing Education, faculty and staff, students, and
volunteers.
SDCCD Chancellor Constance M. Carroll is being honored with the prestigious Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr., Human Dignity Award by the YMCA of San Diego County at its annual gala on
Jan. 16. The Human Dignity Award recognizes San Diego leaders whose contributions reflect
the life and legacy of Dr. King, including those who work to reduce prejudice and promote
integrity, and who create opportunities for advancing youth from underserved communities
through education. Chancellor Carroll will be honored before a sold-out audience of more than
1,200 people at the Town & Country Resorts Atlas Ballroom in San Diego. The event begins at
6 a.m.
Chancellor Carroll says she is humbled with the award and that participation in weekend events
presents community members with a unique opportunity:
These events in Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.s honor enable all of us to witness and to
demonstrate our own commitment, individually and collectively, to the humane causes that were
espoused by this great civil rights leader, preacher, and educator, said Chancellor Carroll. Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr., was not just a hero of the African-American Civil Rights Movement; he
was and is the hero of the broader movement to provide opportunity, dignity, equal rights, peace,
and fulfillment for all people irrespective of their heritage, background, beliefs, or economic
condition.

Two days later on Jan. 18, San Diego City College President Anthony Beebe will serve as Grand
Marshal of the 35th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr., Parade on Harbor Drive along the San Diego
Embarcadero. Beebe will be joined by hundreds of students, faculty, and staff from City, Mesa,
and Miramar colleges, and Continuing Education, all of which will be entering floats in the
parade. The parade begins at 2 p.m.
On Monday, Jan. 19, the SDCCD is co-sponsoring the 27th All Peoples Celebration at the Balboa
Park Activity Center, 2145 Park Blvd., just up the street from City College.
Chancellor Carroll says it is especially important for representatives of the district to come out
in force at MLK events:
Being present and involved in these community events is important for us in the San Diego
Community College District, said Chancellor Carroll. In the words of Dr. King, written in a
Letter from a Birmingham Jail in April 1963, We are caught in an inescapable network of
mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all
indirectly.
As the second-largest of Californias 72 community college districts, the San Diego Community
College District serves approximately 100,000 students annually through three two-year colleges
and San Diego Continuing Education. The three colleges, San Diego City College, San Diego
Mesa College, and San Diego Miramar College, offer associate degrees and certificates in
occupational programs that prepare students for transfer to four-year colleges and entry-level
jobs.
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