Nina Davuluri, Miss America 2014, will be the keynote speaker for Bluffton University’s annual Civic Engagement Day, on Wednesday, April 9.

Her address, “#CirclesOfUnity: The Celebration of Diversity Through Cultural Competency,” is free and open to the public beginning at 7:30 p.m. in the Sommer Center on campus.

The title of Davuluri’s presentation is also the platform issue she has chosen to promote during her year as Miss America. The first Miss America of Indian descent, the Syracuse, N.Y., native is a University of Michigan graduate who plans to attend medical school and become a physician.

“I'm so thankful that children watching at home can relate to a new Miss America,” she said. “They can look at me and see that they can break barriers, be who they are and be successful despite their race or socioeconomic status. I want to use this opportunity to encourage positive dialogue among all Americans about the ways in which we are all unique and how that makes us stronger as a country."

Bluffton’s civic engagement theme for 2013-14 is “Race and Ethnicity in America: Celebration, Struggle, Opportunity.” Each year’s theme is a contemporary issue that is related to the university’s mission and becomes the subject of cross-disciplinary exploration throughout the academic year.