MLK Day was an official Penn State holiday for the first time. Many spent it in ‘Day of Service’
Penn State students and faculty members filled the HUB-Robeson Center’s Alumni Hall on Monday to engage in a variety of service activities that were all inspired by Martin Luther King Jr.’s message of unity.
On MLK Day, Penn State’s Dr. Martin Luther King Commemoration Student Committee hosted its annual Day of Service to honor King and celebrate the day as a holiday, which is the first time Penn State has designated MLK Day as an official holiday on the academic calendar.
Yana Harris, the program coordinator for Penn State’s Student Leadership and Involvement, has been an adviser for the commemoration committee for one year and said the Day of Service touches on King’s emphasis on unity.
“I grew up understanding the legacy that Dr. King left for, not just peace, civility for human beings, but also community,” Harris said. “He was a bridgemaker.”
Before the service projects got underway Monday morning, dozens of students from organizations such as the Unity Christian Campus Ministry Choir, the Mighty Gamma Nu chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated, the Dark Storm Step Team and the Penn State Student Black Caucus spoke or performed in front of 15 tables of people ready to get to work.
The service projects included making posters for Wednesday’s March for Peace; packaging meals for Rise Against Hunger; creating bookmarks for children through the Maryland Book Bank; assembling care packages for military service members through the local nonprofit A Soldier’s Hands; and sewing bags for menstrual supplies with Penn State’s Days for Girls Club.
Julian Richardson, a junior majoring in digital and print journalism at Penn State, said he’s celebrated every MLK Day by engaging in community service with his family, and he hasn’t stopped in college.
“(King) wanted to help people because he understood the state of his people in this country, and for him, service wasn’t something he had to plan out. It wasn’t a task,” Richardson said. “...We all come together once a year on MLK Day to complete service projects, but I tried to make it something that’s just a part of my daily life.”
While decorating bookmarks, materials science and engineering student Kennedy Walker said she enjoys celebrating MLK Day at the university through community events because it reminds her of why she should keep going when college life gets difficult.
“As an African American woman in STEM, I feel like it sometimes gets really hard,” Walker said. “It gets really tough to keep pushing through and keep going through these rigorous courses and not really have the community I think I do, but then I look around, especially on days like this where we all come together and support the same cause.”
Senior Genesis Severino-Ellis said her involvement in the commemoration activities is inspired by fulfilling King’s dream in small yet significant ways.
“(King’s dream) is not something that will be done,” Severino-Ellis said. “It’s a continuous effort to make sure that we’re hitting those target goals and being an equitable society.”
The commemoration committee’s efforts to honor King’s legacy won’t stop when the federal holiday concludes. A number of events are planned throughout the week.
This year’s commemoration week theme is “A Testament of Hope,” inspired by the book of King’s speeches and writings by the same name.
Penn State Director of Adult Learner Programs & Services Leslie Laing serves on the Forum on Black Affairs and takes pride in the university’s efforts to honor King.
“Despite having been granted the day off, more than sixteen of our Penn State campuses will be hosting MLK events,” Laing said via email. “This demonstrates our commitment to seeking social justice, educating our students, staff and communities about the long-standing fight for freedom, justice and racial equity.”
With the week of commemoration events, Harris said the goal is to engage as many students as possible with fun activities like a Mwenso and the Shakes concert and relatable lectures like Orlena Nwokah Blanchard’s talk on the Crown Act, the prohibition of discrimination based on hairstyle, both on Thursday.
“We’re not really so much focusing on the person, we’re more so focused on what can students walk away with,” Harris said. “I think that is really big for us this year.”
Wednesday’s organized March for Peace invites students and community members to walk from Penn State’s campus to the MLK Jr. Plaza in downtown State College.
“We really just want to strive for an inclusive environment in all places,” Harris said. “Peace in the classroom, peace on campus, peace in our residential halls. ... The peace march shows solidarity, like we are better when we are together as opposed to doing things alone.”
Richardson said he’s looking forward to the march because it’s a way to unite people from different backgrounds.
“State College feels really big at times,” Richardson said, “so it’s nice to bring the community together for something like that.”
Harris said she wants students to “carry on the legacy” of King and his fight for civil rights and equality, hoping the event participants will learn more about King and spread his message of inclusion.
Volunteering at Monday’s Day of Service, Penn State’s Restorative Justice Initiative Community Liaison Irvin Moore said he strives to continue King’s legacy, as he participated in the movement when he was younger.
“I feel prideful. I feel inspired,” Moore said. “I feel that we have role models throughout history that show us a way that we should be traveling, and Dr. Martin Luther King was one of those. So, I honor his memory today. I honor his life. I honor his message and his dream.”
Other Martin Luther King Jr. commemoration events:
Tuesday
6-8 p.m.: “An Evening of Prose, Poetry and Performance Tribute,” HUB-Robeson Center Room 008, orgcentral.psu.edu/event/8655415
Wednesday
Noon: March for Peace, starts at Paul Robeson Cultural Center, orgcentral.psu.edu/event/8655399
Thursday
7:30-8:30 p.m.: “Let’s Chat about the Crown Act!” with guest speaker Orlena Nwokah Blanchard, Penn State’s Freeman Auditorium, orgcentral.psu.edu/event/8655463
9-11 p.m.: “Night Time is the Right Time” with Mwenso and the Shakes, Penn State’s Heritage Hall, orgcentral.psu.edu/event/8655471
Friday
7 p.m.: Community Jam Session with Mwenso and the Shakes, 3 Dots Downtown, cpa.psu.edu/events/community-jam-session-mwenso-and-shakes.
Saturday
10 a.m.-1 p.m.: “The Time I Always Right” community art exhibit, State College Friends School
This story was originally published January 16, 2023 at 3:42 PM.