Speakers for Eastern’s March For Our Lives rally have been solidified.

The rally is in solidarity with the March For Our Lives events going on across the country and is set for 11 a.m. Saturday at the Library Quad.

Scheduled to speak are English professor Jeannie Ludlow, the coordinator of the women’s, gender and sexuality studies program, journalism professor Bryan Murley, Charleston City Council member Dennis Malak and Kourtney Lucious, the president of Eastern’s chapter of the NAACP.

Students from a PR campaigns class in the communication studies department are coordinating the rally following the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. Seventeen people were killed after a former student opened fire at the school, spurring these nationwide marches.

A press release about the march said communication studies professor Carrie Wilson-Brown asked students if they wanted to dedicate the rest of their semester to planning the rally in class.

“This is a defining moment across the country for all high school and college students. All of my students at EIU have had some level of training for a potential active shooter in their schools and have real insight into school safety and violence,” she said in the release. “Planning this rally gives students the opportunity to employ their experiences as students and as future public relations professionals.”

Brianna Welk, part of the media relations team for the rally, said in a previous article in The Daily Eastern News that no matter what people’s political beliefs are, it is time for a change in this country.

“There’s not just one solution to go about this,” Welk said. “[There are] many ways to solve the problem. The Parkland students have proven that kids can make a change.”

Eastern’s March For Our Lives rally is on the same day as the national March For Our Lives rally in Washington D.C. and sister rallies across the US.

The News staff can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]