The Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Dinner is a University tradition shared with students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members from southeast Missouri and beyond. It celebrates the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The theme for this year’s event is “Buiding Community Through Service.”

Event Details

Doors will open at 5 p.m. with the dinner scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Tickets available at semo.edu/mlk or (573) 651-2626.

About the Speaker:

Senator Brian Williams has proudly represented the 14th Senatorial District in St. Louis County since 2018. He served as the assistant minority floor leader from 2020-2022. Senator Williams is the first Black male to serve in the Missouri Senate in two decades.

He was drawn to public service after studying government and public health policy, a passion that eventually led him to the U.S. Congress. He worked as a congressional staffer for several years. During this time, he oversaw Missouri’s rollout of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace under President Obama’s administration and helped land the $1.75 billion new headquarters of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in North St. Louis City.

While his list of legislative accomplishments is vast, Sen. Williams’ work in Jefferson City truly reflects the best interests of his underserved community. Thanks to his diplomacy and advocacy, sickle cell patients may access their needed medications, students will learn about the atrocity of the holocaust with his designation of Holocaust Education Week and disabled individuals who have ABLE savings accounts will be protected from losing federal benefits. To address racial profiling and police misconduct, Sen. Williams passed legislation to ban the use of respiratory chokeholds, establish the nation’s strongest use-of-force database and permit prosecutors to file a motion to vacate convictions in light of new evidence that proves the person’s innocence.

During the 2022 legislative session, Sen. Williams proudly secured $98 million for North St. Louis County projects, including $40 million for the University of Missouri-St. Louis to construct the “Campus of the Future;” $15 million to manufacture active pharmaceutical ingredients; $23 million to build a public safety training facility; $7 million for public transit assistance; $6 million to abate, demolish and repurpose the Jamestown Mall; $4 million to renovate the St. Louis Metro Employment and Training Center in Wellston; and $400,000 for Youth Build Works.

In addition to legislative duties, Sen. Williams hosts the annual Human Trafficking Awareness Day at the State Capitol, which convenes advocates, stakeholders and legislators to address this menacing issue. He serves as a board director for People’s Health Center, where he helped develop a behavioral health care center for underserved children. He is also a member of the advisory boards for the Alzheimer’s Association, Refuge and Restoration, St. Louis Crisis Nursery, Simmons Bank, iHeart Media, Nurses for Newborns and the University City Children’s Center. Senator Williams currently resides in University City and is a proud member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity.