California State University, San Bernardino will be closed Monday, Jan. 15, in observance of a state holiday commemorating the late civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr.

The campus will reopen Tuesday, Jan 16. The winter quarter continues through March 25.

The university’s Coussoulis Arena will be the site of the Inland Empire Concerned African American Churches’ 38th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Prayer Breakfast on Jan. 15. The event will begin at 7:30 a.m. Admission is $25.

For more information, visit the event website.

King, who was killed by an assassin’s bullet on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tenn., was a pivotal figure in the Civil Rights movement. He was elected president of the Montgomery Improvement Association, the organization responsible for the successful Montgomery Bus Boycott from 1955 to 1956.

He was arrested 30 times for his participation in civil rights activities. Founder and president of Southern Christian Leadership Conference from 1957 to 1968, King was also vice president of the national Sunday School and Baptist Teaching Union Congress of the National Baptist Convention.

In addition to his civil rights work, King is most noted for his “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on Washington in 1963; his acceptance speech of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964; his last sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church; and his final speech in Memphis (“I’ve been to the mountaintop …”).

His “Letter from Birmingham Jail” ranks among the most important documents of the American Civil Rights movement.

For more information about Cal State San Bernardino, contact the university's Office of Strategic Communication at (909) 537-5007 and visit inside.csusb.edu.