Barbara Blain-Bellamy, an attorney and the mayor of Conway, will be the keynote speaker for Coastal Carolina University's annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration on Thursday, Jan. 12, at 7 p.m. in Wheelwright Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public; tickets are required but may be obtained at the door.

Sponsored by CCU's Office of Multicultural Student Services, the event is designed to commemorate King's legacy of unity and inclusion. It will include musical selections by the University's gospel choir, the Coastal Inspirational Ambassadors, and a spoken word performance by the CCU chapter of the NAACP.

"This celebration is a way to unite all persons no matter their race, creed or color," said Franklin Ellis, assistant director for multicultural student services at CCU.

A native of Conway, Blain-Bellamy has served as mayor for a year, having previously served on city council from 1993 to 1998 and from 2012 to 2016, and having acted as mayor pro tem in 1996. She also served four years as Conway's assistant city administrator.

Blain-Bellamy earned bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of South Carolina in sociology and education respectively, and she has a juris doctor degree from the USC School of Law. She is a graduate of the inaugural Waccamaw Class of the American Leadership Forum; Leadership South Carolina; Leadership Grand Strand; and the Municipal Elected Officials Institute of Government. She was a recipient of the 2009 NAACP Leadership Award.

Wheelwright Auditorium is located at 108 Spadoni Park Circle on the main Conway campus.

For more information, contact the CCU Office of Multicultural Student Services at 843-349-2863.