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The life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will be honored during Mitchell Community College’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration on Thursday, Jan. 16 at 7 p.m. in Shearer Hall. The program will feature a panel discussion “Past, Present and Future: Looking at Mitchell Community College in Light of Dr. King’s Work.”
Dorothy Phifer Woodard will serve as the panel moderator. Woodard is currently working as an interim administrator for the Iredell-Statesville School System. She previously worked as a principal, assistant principal and mathematics instructor for the System. Woodard is a member of the Mitchell Community College board of trustees and a volunteer for the Statesville Branch NAACP, Hospice of Iredell County, Easter Seals, Mother’s March and Diabetes Campaigns. As a cancer survivor, Woodard is actively involved with the Relay for Life and Susan G. Komen Charlotte. Woodard has a master’s from Temple University, an education specialist degree from the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, and a bachelor’s in mathematics from Livingstone College. She is the widow of William T. “Woody” Woodard, who served as a leader in the Statesville community.
Panelists include Rogerio Calvo, Mamie Houston, Alison Maddux and John Marshall.
Rogelio Calvo is an adjunct art instructor at Mitchell and is in the process of opening an alternative cultural space in downtown Statesville. He has taught art in the US and Panama. Calvo was born in the Republic of Panama to a Panamanian father and an American mother and grew up in a bilingual and bicultural home. He has a master’s in fine arts from Towson University in Maryland and a bachelor’s from the University of Arkansas
Mamie Houston is and academic coordinator at Mitchell’s Mooresville Center. She previously worked in the continuing education division as a reading instructor, a GED instructor and coordinator for the South Statesville Skills Center. Houston is a graduate of Dudley High School in Greensboro and has a bachelor’s in intermediate education/reading from Livingstone College.
Alison Maddux, a licensed attorney, is currently working towards certification as a patent attorney. She will complete an associate in science degree at Mitchell in May. Maddux serves on the Lawyer on the Line pro bono committee, a joint effort by the North Carolina Bar Association and Legal Aid of North Carolina. She is a MIND Center tutor and a Kaplan LSAT instructor. Maddux received a juris doctorate from Wake Forest University.
John Marshall, a Mitchell graduate, is the owner of Statesville Jewelry & Loan Company. Marshall served as mayor of Statesville from 1993 to 2004. He has served on the Statesville City Council, Downtown Statesville Development Corporation, the NC Council of Governments, and the NC Smart Growth Committee. Marshall has a bachelor’s degree in economics from High Point University and is in the second year of a four-year education for ministry program.
The program will include the musical performances and the presentation of the annual Viola Kimbrough-Parker Diversity. The awards recognize a Mitchell employee, a Mitchell student and one community member who have made a difference in promoting diversity in Iredell County. Kimbrough-Parker was a former long-time college employee who contributed to the spread of diversity at Mitchell.
The event is free and open to the public. Shearer Hall is located on the historic main campus in Statesville. For more information, call (704) 878-4321.