A local march will be held today honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and commemorating the national march in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 28, 1963.

The march, beginning at 2:30 p.m., will start at Grace Lutheran Church, on the corner of Beaver and Garner avenues, proceed down South Garner Street across College Avenue and along Shortlidge Road to end at Eisenhower Auditorium.

A special memorial program, "The 1990 Dr. Martin Luther King Convocation, " will then begin.

"The march is a representation of the ideologies of Martin Luther King," said Walter Mosley, Black Caucus president, in a news conference Friday.

Everyone has to recognize and be aware of the significance of Jan. 15, Mosley said.

"It's not just a black thing," he said.

Today, the slain civil rights leader would have been 61-years-old. Since 1983, King's birthday has been designated as a national holiday with many banks, schools and government agencies closing for its observance.

In remembrance of the civil rights leader the University has cancelled all classes held after 3:30 p.m, said Grace Hampton, University vice provost.

The idea for the march has been in its planning stages since last semester, said Elizabeth Walker, chapter president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

"It's a community and Penn State collaborative effort," said Aaron Singleton, University spokesman. He noted it is a great honor for the community as well as the University to support the march.

"We expect it to be an annual event," Mosley said.

Mosley said the march will represent a diverse group of people.

"We hope there will be a big turnout," Walker said.

"It will commemorate a great civil rights leader and one of the great African- American men of all time," she said. "We welcome everyone."

Speakers addressing the march participants in a memorial ceremony include Thomas Poole, University director of religious affairs; Mayor Arnold Addison and James B. Stewart, director of Black Studies Program, labor studies and industrial relations.

Beginning at 4 p.m., Georgetown University law professor Eleanor Holmes Norton will speak at the "1990 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation. " The memorial event also includes a video presentation and portions of a speech King presented at the University in 1965.

Following the speech, the Forum on Black Affairs at Penn State will hold its 12th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Banquet at 6 p.m. in the HUB Ballroom.