More than 500 reservations already have been made for the 2014 Leadership Conference Celebrating African-American History Month Feb. 7 and 8 on the campus of Troy University.

Shelia Jackson, Troy tourism and public relations director, said the two-day Conference is expected to attract more than 600 community leaders and university students.

“The support for this year’s African-American Leadership Conference has been tremendous,” Jackson said. “The support is always outstanding, but, this year, many reservations were made early and that has helped with planning the conference.”

Jackson said the featured speakers, the Rev. Bernice King and Judge Penny Brown Reynolds, are main attractions for the Conference.

“They both generate a lot of interest whenever and wherever they speak,” she said.

King, who is the daughter of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King, will be the keynote speaker at the opening session at 6:30 p.m. Friday at the Claudia Crosby Theater.

“Rev. King is one of the most powerful, motivating and life-changing speakers on the circuit today,” Jackson said. “She leaves her audiences speechless and challenges people to raise the standard. Through her, the spirit of her father lives on.”

Reynolds will be the featured speaker at the Leadership Conference’s closing session at noon on Saturday in the Adams Center Ballroom.

“‘Judge Penny’ is an eloquent speaker and television commentator on the most relevant current issues involving law, politics, religion and women and children’s issues,” Jackson said. “She has distinguished herself as a voice of wisdom, reason and change.”

The opening session will begin at 6:30 p.m. Friday at the Claudia Crosby Theater. Musical entertainment will be by a combined local choir and the Troy University Gospel Choir.

On Saturday, the plenary sessions for students and community leaders will be from 8:15 until 11:30 a.m. The luncheon and closing session will be from noon until 1:30 p.m.

Tickets are $30 and include the opening, plenary and closing sessions and the luncheon. Tickets may be purchased at the Troy Tourism Office on Market Street in downtown Troy or the Student Development Office in the Trojan Center on the campus of Troy University.

For more information, contact Barbara Patterson at 334-670-3204 or Jackson at 670-2283.

The African-American Leadership Conference is presented by Troy University and the City of Troy. Primary sponsors of the conference are Walmart, SD James Evangelistic Association and Troy Bank & Trust.