BLACKSBURG -- For years, Martin Luther King Day came and went at Virginia Tech with little deviation from the typical day. Classes went ahead as scheduled and the only event honoring King was organized by the school's historically black fraternity.

But on Monday, classes at Tech will be canceled in honor of King for the first time in school history. And the week will be peppered with events on campus and in the community to honor the civil rights leader.

"It's about time," said Penny Franklin, a member-at-large of the local NAACP's executive committee and chairwoman of the Montgomery County School Board. "Hopefully this will lead to other things."

At Radford University, classes will go on as usual Monday and has one event planned for Tuesday.

The highlight of the week's events in Blacksburg will be a speech Monday by the Rev. Jesse Jackson. The former presidential candidate and civil rights activist will speak at 7 p.m. in Burruss Hall Auditorium. Most of the 3,000 free tickets for the event have been claimed but about 400 tickets will be available at the Tech box office Monday. Whatever tickets aren't claimed there will be available at the door.

Virginia Tech alum Doug Curling is sponsoring Jackson's visit. Curling is a member of the business advisory group for Tech's Pamplin College and president of ChoicePoint Inc., an Atlanta-based information company. He used connections he had through his company's diversity program to get Jackson to come to campus. The company would not say how much his visit will cost.

While Curling brought Jackson to Tech, other events during the week -- from speeches by an NAACP leader and historic civil rights figure to community service projects and a documentary film of King -- are the result of efforts from people throughout the community.

Ray Plaza, chairman of the school's Commission On Equal Opportunity and Community, is overseeing the week's events. He said the planning started in late September and, as people from the Virginia Tech and Blacksburg communities continued coming forward with ideas, it grew into a week of events.

"You really need to get out into the community and change the perceptions out there," Plaza said. "I see this as an opportunity to right a wrong in terms of why we never really celebrated the holiday before."

Beyond the lack of Martin Luther King Day events, the university has struggled with recruiting black students and has dealt with several issues involving minorities on campus.

The past few years have seen incidents of racist graffiti on campus and student protests over a residence hall named after a student who may have had ties to the KKK. In March 2003 the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors voted to eliminate affirmative action.

While that decision was quickly reversed, Franklin said she believes the fallout from those incidents compelled the university to do more than it had in the past to honor King. Plaza is hopeful the week of events will start a tradition at the school.

"We're clearly behind," he said. "For a long time we just sat back ... I think we are turning over a new leaf. I think Tech is headed in the right direction."

Among the events are a poster and essay contest organized by Montgomery County schools and the local chapter of the NAACP. Service projects will be going on from Tuesday through Friday in Squires Student Center as part of the events. Volunteers will come together to write letters to soldiers, children and politicians and make books for international relief organizations.

While describing herself as hopeful, Franklin said it will take more than one week in January and Black History Month events each February for Tech to prove that it's ready to reach out to the black community and the community as a whole.

"How deep does this truly run?" she asked.

Virginia Tech

Monday: Community breakfast at Squires Student Center featuring Franklin McCain, one of the four original participants in the 1960 Greensboro sit-ins, 8 a.m.; Keynote address by the Rev. Jesse Jackson in Burruss Auditorium, 7 p.m.

Tuesday: Carl Mack, former president of the Seattle King County NAACP speaks at Squires Student Center , 7 p.m.

Wednesday: Music, dance and other performing arts at Burruss Auditorium, 7 p.m.

Thursday: A documentary film on Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lyric Theatre.

Friday: Virginia Tech’s ninth annual diversity summit at Owens Banquet Room, 2 p.m.

Radford University

Tuesday: Jerry Anthony Mills, an ordained elder at New Testament Church in Portsmouth , will speak about the life of King in Heth Ballroom, 7 p.m.

For more information on the events, go to vt.edu or radford.edu.