PHILADELPHIA -- Talks by civil rights activists, a candlelight vigil, public service projects and teach-ins will be held Jan. 14-31 at the University of Pennsylvania as part of the 2003 Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Symposium on Social Change.

"Penn's Commitment to the Legacy: Justice, Peace and Service" is the theme for this year's Symposium. The complete calendar of events is available online at http://www.upenn.edu/aarc/mlk.

On Jan. 20, University offices will be closed and classes cancelled to mark the federal King holiday, giving students, faculty and staff a day off for a "day on" working in a variety of Penn-sponsored community service projects. For example, volunteers will serve as mentors to area students, train in the Philadelphia Reads program and spruce up the halls and grounds of two West Philadelphia elementary schools in a public show of commitment to King's legacy of service.

Dorothy Cotton and Julian Bond, who both worked with King in the civil rights movement, will deliver speeches on the Symposium theme.

Cotton, the first female member of King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference, will speak at the Interfaith Program sponsored by the Office of the Chaplain at 7 p.m., Jan. 23, in Bodek Lounge, Houston Hall, 3417 Spruce St. The program will feature remarks from Penn President Judith Rodin, presentation of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Involvement Awards and musical performances.

NAACP Chairman Julian Bond will deliver the Penn Center for Africana Studies 2nd Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Lecture in Social Justice at noon, Jan. 29, in Huntsman Hall, 38th and Walnut streets. A student in King's philosophy class at Morehouse College, Bond founded the Student Nonviolent Coordination Committee.