WEST LAFAYETTE – Former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former Congressman Jeff Flake will be keynote speakers for Purdue’s Martin Luther King Day of Celebration, the university announced this week.

Lynch and Flake are scheduled to discuss King’s legacy during a talk at 7 p.m. Jan. 22 at Loeb Playhouse in Purdue’s Stewart Center. Cheryl Cooky, chair of the University Senate, will moderate the discussion that night.

The event is free but will require tickets. Tickets will be available starting Monday, Jan. 13, at Purdue box offices in the Stewart Center and Pao Hall or online at www.purdue.edu/hallofmusic/BuyTickets/LoebBoxOffice.html.

Lynch served as attorney general under President Barack Obama from 2015 to 2017. She was the first female African American to hold that position.

Flake, an Arizona Republican, was a U.S. representative from 2001 to 2013 and a U.S. senator from 2013 to 2019. His book, “Conscience of a Conservative: A Rejection of Destructive Politics and a Return to Principle,” was a New York Times best-seller.

The event also kicks off a university series called “Democracy, Civility and Freedom of Expression,” sponsored by Purdue’s Division of Diversity and Inclusion.

Reach Dave Bangert at 765-420-5258 or at dbangert@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @davebangert.