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MLK Day celebration at Penn State in Scranton

The event was held at Penn State's Dunmore campus at 11:30 a.m.

DUNMORE, Pa. — A woman who was jailed during civil rights protests in the 1960s was in Lackawanna County Tuesday speaking about diversity and inclusion.

Bettie Mae Fikes was the keynote speaker for Penn State Scranton's Martin Luther King Day celebration.

As a teenager, Fikes was a member of the group 'the freedom singers' that traveled with Doctor King.

"I'm speaking to you of yesterday I am today you all are tomorrow's. Young MLK students owe our histories of tomorrow, so I come telling them about the foundation that we laid sixty years ago for them to build off today," said Fikes.

Penn State Scranton also presented excellence in diversity awards to Rashida Lovely, the founder of Newave Studios; the area's first black-owned multi-arts and science studio.

An award was also presented to Eileen Giovagnoli, Penn State Scranton's Associate Director of Learning and Disability Services.

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