Contact Program Contact Sharon Grier Alpha Kappa Alpha (765) 457-4709 Media Contact Anne-Marie Damler OCM (765) 455-9468 adamler@iuk.edu Mary Ellen Stephenson OCM (765) 455-9414 mestephe@iuk.edu

Indianapolis educator to speak at Havens

KOKOMO, Ind.—Dr. Eugene G. White, superintendent of the Indianapolis Public School (IPS) District, will speak at the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration, Sunday, January 22, at 3 p.m. in Indiana University Kokomo’s Havens Auditorium. Former and current African American educators of the Kokomo Center school corporation will be honored during the program, under the theme “Living the Dream—Celebrating Education.”

Omicron Phi Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority sponsors the event, which is funded in part by a grant from the Community Foundation of Howard County. IU Kokomo and Elwood Haynes Elementary School assisted in obtaining the program grant. Admission to the event is free.

White’s IPS biography notes that “he grew up in a time of segregation and Jim Crow practices in Southeast Alabama.” The first person in his family to graduate from high school, White attended Alabama A and M University on a sports scholarship, graduating with academic honors and a career record for points scored in basketball.

White’s teaching career brought him to Indiana, where he became the first African American principal, and later first African American superintendent, of the Fort Wayne Community School system. He also led the Metropolitan School District of Washington Township (Indianapolis) for 11 years. He is president of the American Association for School Administrators.

To further honor Dr. King’s legacy, Alpha Kappa Alpha will also sponsor a January 14 Youth Observance and a January 22 scholarship dinner at other Kokomo locations. For more information, contact Sharon Grier at (765) 457-4709.