By Marc Thomas

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UK and Lexington are preparing for a visit from a heavyweight in the education world.

Dr. Steve Perry, the founder of Capital Preparatory Magnet School in Hartford, Conn. and educational contributor for both CNN and MSNBC will address a crowd at Memorial Hall on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

The event is free for the public.

Before the event, Mayor Jim Gray’s office will present Dr. Perry with a key to the city and will proclaim that day “Dr. Steve Perry Day,” according to Lisa A. Brown, the Director of Student and Multicultural Affairs in the Grehan School of Journalism.

Brown said she connected with Perry on LinkedIn in October.

This visit, she added, marks Perry’s first visit in three years.

Brown indicated that Perry will speak about “equity in education, retention (and) closing the achievement gap.”

According to his webpage, the Capital Preparatory Magnet School has sent minority, first-generation high school graduates to four-year colleges every year since 2006.

“When we talk about equity in education, we think about resources, technology and, most importantly, dollars,” Brown said. “But that’s not the only resource. We each have a way that we can contribute and one of those resources is our time.”

Brown said she hopes this event benefits all attendees.

“There’s no reason to complain about a situation and talk about the rise in crime when you can help alleviate that by mentoring a child,” Brown said.