University of Rochester

Inauguration / Martin Luther King Day 2013

Monday, January 21: Martin Luther King Day -- no classes.

string quartet

Eastman Students Perform at Presidential Inauguration

The Eastman String Quartet (from left, Markiyan Melnychenko, violin; Kelsey Farr, viola; Hyeok Kwon, cello; and Che Ho Lam, violin) will be playing at the Presidential Inaugural Luncheon on Monday, Jan. 21. The students were selected after a School audition process to represent Eastman during inaugural activities at the invitation of U.S. Senator Charles Schumer, chairman of the 2013 Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies.

Appearing as the Eastman String Quartet, the students will perform before a distinguished audience that includes President Barack Obama, Vice President Joseph Biden, former Presidents, Senators, Representatives, and Cabinet officials.

Their program will spotlight work by fellow Eastman students, with arrangements of Copland’s “Hoedown” and the University of Rochester’s alma mater “The Genesee” by master’s degree students Reuben Allen and Michael Conrad, respectively. Additionally, the ensemble will perform Haydn’s Quartet in G Major; Mozart’s Quartet in C Major; the first and fourth movements of Dvorak’s “American Quartet”; Scott Joplin’s “Country Club Rag”; and “America the Beautiful.”

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Students Hop on the Bus to Inauguration

Democrat & Chronicle
A busload of students will leave Rochester at 10 p.m. for a seven-hour bus trip to Washington. They’ll ride a packed subway, then stand shoulder to shoulder for hours in the cold, watching something on a screen that’s also being broadcast to living rooms nationwide. When it’s over, they’ll drive back through the night to Rochester, getting to campus at 2 a.m.

No tickets to the event. No hotel rooms. No fancy cocktail parties.

The trip may sound utterly exhausting. But for 52 University of Rochester students, the 2013 presidential inauguration will be a once in a lifetime experience.

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Martin Luther King Day Events

Martin Luther King Day Community Worship Celebration
Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre
9 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Service
Whipple Auditorium Medical Center
11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

A Conversation on Race: A Process of Discovery
Wilson Commons Havens Lounge
6 p.m. to 8 p.m.



Rochester Students Volunteer During King For A Day

More than 300 students at the University of Rochester will join community members for a day of volunteerism during Rochester Cares King for a Day Celebration of Service on Saturday, Jan. 19, from 10 a.m. to noon.

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A Presidential Voice: New Exhibit on the History of Presidential Speechwriting

typewritten copy of JFK speech with his signature

Just in time for President Barack Obama's inaugural address on Monday, Jan. 21, the University of Rochester will open an exhibit on the history of presidential speechwriting.

Comprised of more than 50 selections from public and private collections, including presidential libraries and the University's collections, A Presidential Voice includes a signed copy of John F. Kennedy's 1961 inaugural address where he said, "Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country." Also on display is a copy of Abraham Lincoln's first address.

Listen to John F. Kennedy's inauguration speech; January 20, 1961

Co-curated by Curt Smith, senior lecturer in English and former presidential speechwriter, and Lori Birrell, manuscript librarian in the University's Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, the exhibit is a "bi-partisan rendering of presidential speechwriting," said Smith, who contributed many items from his personal collection for the display. "We want people to be able to relive the presidency through speeches that were written, then given."

President Lincoln delivers inaugural address

President Abraham Lincoln delivers his second inaugural address on March 4, 1865. William H. Seward's personal copy of Lincoln's first inaugural address is on display as part of the exhibit.

The exhibit features letters, speeches, photographs, and correspondence of presidents including John Quincy Adams, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Theodore Roosevelt, and Bill Clinton. The material references Warren G. Harding's hiring of the first White House speechwriter in 1921. Later memorabilia show how the birth of radio changed the delivery of speeches.

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Melissa Harris-Perry Delivers Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Comemmorative Address

Melissa Harris-Perry

Democrat & Chronicle
Melissa Harris-Perry, a noted scholar and social commentator, brought about 600 people to their feet Thursday night at the University of Rochester in appreciation of her commemorative address about the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

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photo iconPHOTO GALLERY: Melissa Harris-Perry Delivers MLK Address