Seton Hill schedules remembrance of 'March on Washington'

Seton Hill University students, faculty and staff will join community leaders to mark the 57th anniversary of the famous “March on Washington,” at 3 p.m. Friday on the McKenna Lawn at the Greensburg school’s hilltop campus.

University officials said the event, modeled on the historic 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, will be closed to the public due to public health considerations. But the program will be livestreamed on the National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education Facebook page.

The Seton Hill University Office of Diversity, Inclusion and International Student Services and the National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education are hosting the program that looks back to the day when more than 200,000 people from around the nation filled the national Mall. The peaceful rally made famous for Martin Luther King’s famous “I have a dream,” speech was credited with helping to spur the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

”In these challenging times, it is essential that we remember and honor that event, and that we draw inspiration from its leaders in dealing with the challenges that currently face our nation,” the organizers of the Seton Hill remembrance said.

The remembrance comes as the nation continues to mourn the recent death of Congressman John Lewis. At age 23 the day of the rally, Lewis, who would go on to become a lifelong civil rights champion, was the youngest presenter at the March.

Seton Hill officials said they seized upon the remembrance as a way to celebrate Lewis and educate students about the purpose and goals of the March