Civil rights icon, former U.N. ambassador Andrew Young to highlight Auburn MLK event

Andrew Young, a key civil rights leader, former confidant to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., former ambassador to the United Nations, former Congressman for Georgia's 5th District, former mayor of Atlanta and former executive director of the storied Southern Christian Leadership Conference will be the keynote speaker for Auburn University's annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Breakfast.

The event will take place Monday, Jan. 15 from 7:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m, at The Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center.

Young's talk is called "Bridging the Gap: A Quest for Peace and Justice," and will focus on a "celebration of Dr. King’s life and work and his ideals for peace and unity," Auburn said in a news release.

Young is a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the French Legion d'honneur, the NAACP's Springarn Medal, the Olympic Order, a Lifetime Emmy and dozens of honorary academic degrees.

Young served as a pastor in Marion, Alabama and was instrumental in registering black voters throughout the South during the civil rights movement. He was named the executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1964, continuing his close collaboration with King, and was with King when the civil rights leader was assassinated in 1968 in Memphis.

Young turned to politics in 1972, serving as a Georgia Congressman before being tapped by President Jimmy Carter as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. He was later elected as the mayor of Atlanta.

This story was originally published January 12, 2018 at 12:29 PM with the headline "Civil rights icon, former U.N. ambassador Andrew Young to highlight Auburn MLK event."