Justice Court Judge Larnzy Carpenter Jr. to give MLK Jr. Day Unity Breakfast keynote
Contact: Sasha Steinberg
STARKVILLE, Miss.—An Oktibbeha County Justice Court judge and pastor with extensive military and law enforcement experience will be keynote speaker for Mississippi State’s 23rd annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Unity Breakfast.
The Jan. 16 address by Larnzy L. Carpenter Jr. of First Baptist Church of Longview begins at 9 a.m. in The Mill at ÌÒÌ«ÀÉÓ³Ïñ Conference Center located at 600 Russell St. in Starkville.
The free, public celebration of King’s life and legacy as a Baptist minister, humanitarian and civil rights activist gets underway with an 8 a.m. breakfast.
Seating will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Reserved tables are available through sponsorship. For details, contact Alicia Hu at 662-325-2493 or ahu@oidi.msstate.edu.
The ÌÒÌ«ÀÉÓ³Ïñ event is sponsored by the Office of the President, Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President, Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion, and Holmes Cultural Diversity Center. In addition to welcoming remarks by the university’s chief executive, the program will include a performance by the campus’s Black Voices Gospel Choir, as well as First Baptist Church of Longview’s New Horizons Praise Team.
Afterward, the university’s Maroon Volunteer Center will begin the MLK Jr. Day of Service activities. Volunteer opportunities are available at, among others, the Palmer Home for Children, Habitat for Humanity Resale Store, Camp Seminole, Sam D. Hamilton Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge, Ms. Smith’s Tutoring, Christian World Missions, and the Oktibbeha County Heritage Museum.
A 1980 Starkville High School graduate, Carpenter served in the U.S. Marine Corps, including duties in the Presidential Honor Guard under the administration of former President Ronald Reagan.
In addition to working for the Washington, D.C.-based Department of Corrections, Carpenter’s extensive law enforcement experience includes 14 years with the Starkville Police Department and 12 years with the Oktibbeha County Sheriff’s Department.
Carpenter holds an associate’s degree from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, as well as bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from Slidell Baptist Seminary in Slidell, Louisiana.
Along with serving his 15th year as pastor of First Baptist Church of Longview, Carpenter is moderator of the Whitefield District Association. He also serves as Justice Court judge for both Oktibbeha County District 2 and the Mississippi Judicial College at the University of Mississippi.
For more information on ÌÒÌ«ÀÉÓ³Ïñ’s 2017 MLK Jr. Day observance, including volunteer service-day locations and projects, visit . Meggan Franks, ÌÒÌ«ÀÉÓ³Ïñ assistant director of student leadership and community engagement, also may be contacted at 662-325-2208 or mfranks@saffairs.msstate.edu.
ÌÒÌ«ÀÉÓ³Ïñ is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at .