UC hosts memorial for Marian Spencer

The University of Cincinnati will host a memorial for civil rights icon and alumna Marian Spencer 3-5 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 10 at UC’s Fifth Third Arena. A reception will follow in the arena’s east concourse.

WLWT news anchor Courtis Fuller will serve as emcee. The program includes:

• Ritual ceremonies by Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and The Links, Incorporated

• Invocation by Rev. David J. Brentley, associate pastor, New Vision United Methodist Church

• Remarks by UC President Neville G. Pinto; Spencer’s sons Donald Spencer, Jr., and Edward Spencer; Robert S. Brown; Hon. Nathaniel R. Jones, Blank Rome LLP, retired circuit judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit; Roxanne Qualls, former aide to Spencer and former mayor, City of Cincinnati; Bleuzette Marshall, PhD, vice president for equity, inclusion & community impact, University of Cincinnati; Laura Mitchell, superintendent, Cincinnati Public Schools; Aliyana, Serenity, Janyia & Nakia, Winton Hills Montessori, authors and illustrators, “Marian Spencer, A Light in the Darkness”; and Hon. Cheryl D. Grant, retired judge and associate minister, Zion Baptist Church

• Musical selections by the New Vision United Methodist Church Choir and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra String Quartet

• Keynote address by Rev. Dr. Otis Moss, Jr., pastor emeritus, Mount Olive Baptist Church, Cleveland, Ohio

• Benediction by Rev. Jeannine L. Walker, senior pastor, New Vision United Methodist Church

All are welcome to attend. Doors open at 1:30 p.m. Parking on UC’s campus will be free.

After 99 years of service to her community, Marian Spencer died on Tuesday, July 9, 2019. A civil rights pioneer, Spencer's name will be forever remembered on UC’s campus, a place she and her late husband, Donald Spencer, forever changed and meaningfully reshaped.

Read more about Spencer’s legacy at UC, across Cincinnati and beyond.