Edgar Dyer, vice president for university relations at Coastal Carolina University, will discuss the challenges of a multicultural society as the featured speaker for the Martin Luther King Jr. Observance at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 15 in Wheelwright Auditorium.

“He Fought the Thing” is the title of Dyer’s speech, which is free and open to the public. It will deal with what he learned about the leader of America’s nonviolent movement for racial equality during research for a recently published article.

“A Triumph of Justice in Alabama: The 1960 Perjury Trial of Martin Luther King Jr.” is in the current issue of The Journal of African American History.

A professor of politics, Dyer has been a member of the Coastal faculty since 1976. He currently oversees the Office of Marketing Communications, Office of Community Relations, Office of Alumni Affairs, Office of Media Services, Printing Services, and Photography Services. He also serves as the university’s liaison with the S.C. General Assembly and the Horry County Higher Education Commission, and he is the university’s counsel.

He was the first recipient of the Horry Telephone Cooperative Distinguished Teacher-Scholar Lecturer Award, which recognizes Coastal faculty members who distinguish themselves as teachers, scholars and communicators. He has also received the Distinguished Teacher of the Year Award.

Dyer earned a bachelor’s degree from Guilford College and has a master’s degree and juris doctorate from the University of South Carolina.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Observance kicks Coastal’s African-American Celebration, which continues into April. Visit the Web site at www.coastal.edu for the complete calendar or call the Office of Multicultural Student Services at 349-2863.