This article is brought to you by City of Firsts Cremation and Funeral Services by Rose and Geiger. Proudly serving the residents of Kokomo and surrounding counties, they offer simple cremations and traditional funerals at affordable prices. Visit www.cityoffirstscremations.com to learn more!

Dr. Monique Couvson, an award-winning author and social justice scholar, will serve as keynote speaker for Ivy Tech Community College Kokomo’s 20th anniversary of “Doing the Dream.” This annual event is designed to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and to keep alive his commitment to justice, equity, and peace within our students and our community.

The traditional community banquet is set for Thursday, Jan. 25, in Hingst Hall on the Ivy Tech Kokomo Campus. On Friday, Jan. 26, Couvson will facilitate a community workshop that will bring together a select group of community and educational leaders to kick off an effort aimed at addressing concrete problems to achieve concrete solutions.

“We are excited that Dr. Couvson will join a list of prestigious leaders and thinkers we have had the honor of bringing to Kokomo over the last 20 years,” said Dr. Ethan Heicher, chancellor of Ivy Tech’s Kokomo Service Area. Since the inception of the program, Doing the Dream speakers have included Holocaust survivor Eva Kor; noted historian Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr.; actor and education champion Lavar Burton; now Maryland Gov. Wes Moore; and author, scholar and activist Cornell West.

“We look forward to bringing the community together to hear her challenging message as she leads us in identifying and addressing challenges in our communities,” he continued.

Couvson brings more than three decades of experience in the areas of education, civil rights, and juvenile and criminal justice. Her book, “Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools,” will serve as the basis of the two-day community discussion.

“Our goal is to engage community and educational leaders to review experiences in race and gender and begin work on ways we can benefit from diversity and support equity in our schools,” Heicher said. “We hope to bring the community together for an inspiring message at the banquet and follow that with a workshop that is impactful and that sets us on a path to a better future for all our students.”

Tickets for the Jan. 25 banquet will go on sale Jan. 2. The event annually brings leaders from throughout the community together with the distinguished speaker to address issues of local, state and national importance. Individual tickets are $60 each and will be available until Jan. 20, unless sold out earlier. All proceeds support the Ivy Tech Kokomo “Doing the Dream” Diversity Scholarship. A virtual opportunity to hear the speaker via YouTube Live also will be available.

More information on banquet tickets as well as the virtual opportunity will be available Jan. 2 at this link: ivytech.edu/2024DoingtheDream.