Sage Steele, ESPN SportsCenter anchor and Indiana University alumna, will be the featured speaker for the annual Indiana University East Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration.

Steele’s presentation, “How diversity and challenges make us stronger and with our own foundational standards, we can make a difference and succeed,” is the keynote address for the celebration to be held Wednesday, January 11, from 4:30-5:30 p.m. in Vivian Auditorium, located in Whitewater Hall.

The event is free and open to the public.

Steele joined ESPN in 2007 and is a co-host of ESPN’s flagship show, SportsCenter. Most recently, Steele served as update host during live daytime SportsCenter editions, which debuted in August 2008. She also contributes to First Take and previously anchored SportsCenter updates on Mike & Mike in the Morning and has served as a guest co-host of ESPN2’s SportsNation.

Steele graduated from Indiana University in Bloomington in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Sports Communication.

Prior to the presentation, Steele will meet with 35 students from Girls Incorporated of Wayne County for a session about empowering young women of all backgrounds. Career and Experiential Learning Coordinator Patty Crawford said IU East’s Interfaith and Service program, as part of the White House Campus Challenge, has been partnering with Girls Inc. as part of its service initiative.

“In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, IU East is hosting a program with 35 Girls Inc. members to have a private session with Sage Steele and then IU East students will lead a program about Martin Luther King Jr. and encourage the girls to learn and write about their own dreams, as empowered young women,” Crawford said.

Interfaith AmeriCorp members and IU East students Emilee Hammond and Maryann Deatline will lead an activity for the girls titled “I Had a Dream: Me Being Me.”