The United Nations ambassador and former Atlanta mayor was an early leader in the Civil Rights Movement and is one of three surviving aides who was with Martin Luther King Jr. when he was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn. For this year’s Freshman Reading Project, students read a collection of King’s work, “I Have a Dream: Writings and Speeches that Changed the World.” Young will address students at the Ferst Center at 11 a.m. Tickets are free with a valid BuzzCard and are available at the Clough Commons information desk or the Student Center box office.

Young will also visit the Ferst Center on Sunday, Oct. 9, at 4 p.m. with his godson, Kabir Sehgal, with whom he recently co-authored “Walk in My Shoes: Conversations between a Civil Rights Legend and his Godson on the Journey Ahead.” The two will discuss their book and mentorship at this event hosted by Delta Upsilon fraternity. Tickets are $5 for students and $12 for the public, and can be purchased at the Student Center box office, through Delta Upsilon members or online. Proceeds will benefit the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.

Young and King worked together throughout the Southeast on nonviolent civil rights demonstrations, voter registration drives and other goodwill efforts through the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), where Young served as executive director from 1964–68. Through the SCLC, Young was instrumental in securing the passage of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968 as well as the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Young represented Georgia’s Fifth District in the U.S. House of Representatives, served as a U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. under President Jimmy Carter and was a two-term mayor of Atlanta.