Reminder: Campus closed Monday, Jan. 19

by Kathleen McCoy  |   

The University of Alaska will close Monday, Jan. 16 in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a United States holiday marking the birth date of the Reverend Martin Luther King., Jr., observed on the third Monday of January each year, around the time of King's birthday, Jan 15. It is one of three United States federal holidays to commemorate an individual person.

King was the chief spokesman of the nonviolent civil rights movement, which successfully protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. He was assassinated in 1968.

The campaign for a federal holiday in King's honor began soon after his assassination. Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law in 1983. It was first observed in 1986.

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