Join University Executive Vice President Shannon Cullinan for the inaugural Beloved Community Gathering, held during Walk the Walk Week from 11:15 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 29, in the Morris Inn Smith Ballroom. The event is designed to highlight actions that can be taken to break down barriers and build bridges on campus, in the region, and in the world.

Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove will offer a keynote address that is inspired by the teachings of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., as well as Wilson-Hartgrove’s more than two decades of leadership in racial, social, and economic justice efforts. 

“The same person that taught Dr. King nonviolence taught me nonviolence,” says Wilson-Hartgrove, a spiritual writer, preacher, and community-cultivator. “Rev. [James] Lawson, for all of his life, was about inviting people into his vision of a ‘beloved community.’ It was more than a tactic for how we can win a struggle without violence. It’s about something that is more powerful than violence to transform a situation. It was about a way of life, how you engage other people... how you talk to family and friends [and] how you treat people.”