Barrett Small Network Hero

Centennial Lecture

Dr. Bernice A. King

Barrett, The Honors College and Arizona State University will be hosting Dr. Bernice A. King as the 2024 Flinn Foundation Centennial Lecturer. 

The year 2024 marks the 60th anniversary of Dr. King’s visit to Arizona where he championed the enactment of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The 2024 Centennial Lecture will honor this anniversary and will feature a moderated conversation with Dr. Bernice A. King. 

Prior to hearing from Dr. Bernice King, the audience is welcome to join sponsors and organizational leaders for a community expo. Enjoy complimentary hors d'oeuvres and a moving musical performance. Hear from key community leaders on how we can continue Dr. King’s legacy.

Featured guests

Several of the organizations who are transforming our community will be lauded and uplifted. 

Come learn who they are and how you can get involved.

Flinn Foundation banner

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's Durham Hall Exhibit

On June 3rd, 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke at Goodwin Stadium on the campus of Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. It was the only time Dr. King visited the Phoenix area. The visit came about through the efforts of faith and community leaders in Phoenix and with the support of G. Homer Durham, the President of Arizona State University at the time. Dr. King’s visit to the Valley was significant, occurring only a few weeks before Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

A new display celebrating Dr. King's 1964 visit to Tempe will be installed in Durham Hall on Arizona State University's Tempe campus in the Summer of 2024.

Event details

Date and Time

Date:
Tuesday, October 1st, 2024

Time:
6:30 p.m.

Location

Tempe Center for the Arts- Theater

700 W. Rio Salado Pkwy. Tempe, AZ 85201

Register

Tickets will go live to the public on Friday, August 30th.

Tickets are free but service fees will apply.

If you are unable to attend this event in person, the lecture will be livestreamed and you can register for that webinar here.

Speaker biography

Dr. Bernice A. King, is a global thought leader, strategist, solutionist, orator, peace advocate, and CEO of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center For Nonviolent Social Change (The King Center), which was founded by her mother as the o­fficial living memorial to the life, work, and legacy of her father. In this position, Bernice continues to advance her parents’ legacy of nonviolent social change through policy, advocacy, research, as well as education & training through the Kingian philosophy of nonviolence, which she re-branded Nonviolence365TM (NV365).


History of the Flinn Foundation Centennial Lecture

In 1985, the Flinn Foundation established an endowment to commemorate the University’s 100th year. The gift created the ASU Centennial Lecture, and in 1989 it provided the Barrett Honors College the resources to bring some of the world’s most influential intellects to campus.

In just a few short years, the Centennial Lecture has become one of ASU’s premiere intellectual events featuring noted diplomats, scientists, playwrights, and authors. Each of the women and men chosen as the Centennial Lecturer has added significantly to the strength of the University, and each has provided students and members of the community with a memorable experience.

YearPresenterTitle
2023Laura Linney"A Forgotten Profession: Reconsidering the Arts as Essential for Success"
2022Maria Teresa Kumar"Our Changing America"
2021Common"An evening with Common"
2020Roxane Gay"Roxane Gay: With One 'N'"
2019Jose Antonio Vargas"Define American: My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant"
2018Norah O'Donnell"An Evening with Norah O'Donnell"
2017Titus Kaphar“Making Space for Black History, Amending the Landscape of American Art.”
2016Henry Cisneros"Immigrants: An Essential Ingredient for a Strong America and Our Nation's Future"
2015Sherman Alexie"An Urban Indian’s Look at the World and How to be a 21st Century American Nomad"
2014Sandra Postel"Understanding the Importance of Urban Water Systems"
2013Michael Pollan"Out of the Garden and Onto the Plate: A Writer’s Education"
2012Sylvia Nasar“Grand Pursuit: The Story of Economic Genius in Modern Times”
2011Oscar Arias“For We Have Promises to Keep: Ensuring Peace for Future Generations”
2010Edward James Olmos"We're All in the Same Gang"
2009Joel Meyerowitz"A Look Behind the Lens"
2008Leonard Downie, Jr"Focusing on the Future: Politics, Conflict and the Media"
2007Anna Quindlen"The Value of Reading and Writing in a Democratic Society"
2006Jules Feiffer"Feiffer on Feiffer: My Life and Funny Times"
2005Kathleen Sullivan"Civil Liberties in a Time of National Crisis"
2004Edward Albee"The State of Theater and the Arts in America"
2003Charles Johnson"Mindfulness and the Beloved Country"
2002David Halberstam"America and the World: New Challenges in a Time of Uncertainty"
2001N. Scott Momaday"Origins: The Reinvention of the Sacred"
2001Meave Leakey"My Life in Science: An Evening with Meave Leakey"
2000Jonathan Weiner"Evolution in Action: The View from Darwin's Islands and Benzer's Bottles"
1999Carlos Fuentes"A Dialogue for the Americas"
1998Annie Dillard"Performance of Beauty and Grace"
1997James Fallows"News and Democracy: Knowing Enough to Survive"
1996Stephen J. Gould"Pattern and Lack of Progress in the History of Life"
1995Sir Crispin Tickell"The Human Hazard: Refugees and Environmental Change"
1994Lynn Margulis"Gaia as the Living Earth from Space: Soft Goddess or Hard Science?" - See more at: http://barretthonors.asu.edu/news-events/sig
1992Susan Sontag"Traditions of the New"
1991Robert Coles"The Iconography of Western American Art"
1990Robert Coles"The Spiritual Life of the Hopi Child"