History

Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration

Todd Deloney, president of the IU Northwest Black Student Union, and Chancellor Peggy Elliott Miller were the catalysts behind IU Northwest closing its doors in 1992 in recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. These efforts expanded in the years that followed, and on January 24, 1997, the IU Board of Trustees declared classes canceled on the third Monday in January to celebrate the holiday.

January 20, 2025, will mark the 39th anniversary of the first observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a U.S. federal holiday.