Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C.
[A wide-angle view of marchers along the mall,
showing the Reflecting Pool and the Washington
Monument.], 08/28/1963
Originally uploaded by The U.S. National Archives
Written by Autumn Griffin, Liberal Arts sophomore
Make it a day on… NOT a day off!
As many of you know, today is the MLK Day of Service. Dr. King dedicated his life to service to the community and more importantly to the nation. I truly believe he would want us to celebrate his birthday by giving back to our own communities in some way.
For the past few months, Meg Penza, Veronica Ariel, and I have been working to coordinate the Day of Service on campus. We have researched and contacted sites, narrowed them down, recruited volunteers, trained team leaders, organized transportation, and the list goes on. The past few months have been a bit hectic, but we are all excited that the day is here and we are sure all of our hard work is going to pay off!
I would encourage everyone to get involved today. If not through the Day of Service, just do something to make someone else happy: call your grandparents, take your dog on a walk, donate a dollar to Project Haiti. Every little bit helps and everyone is capable of service.
I’ll close by reiterating my opening statement: Make it a day on… NOT a day off!
Please visit Penn State’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration Web site for more information on today’s events schedule.
All of us in the Liberal Arts Undergraduate Council are proud of the great things that Liberal Arts students did today and continue to do everyday.
Great work, Autumn and others. In addition to Chris Long’s comments above, I hope that everyone takes some time to read the transcript of King’s speech at Penn State. It’s really quite interesting to think of the history that we’ve had here at this University. In fact, if I’m not mistaken, you can see a picture of a solidarity march on the College’s homepage.
Let’s, in general, not become adjusted to the wealth of civil rights and liberties we enjoy. And let’s not forget all the leaders who helped us hold onto them.
It is wonderful to see what you are doing Autumn. I have encouraged everyone to make this, as you say above, a day on.
This morning I was listening to this story about a speech King made at Bethel College. In that speech, King encouraged people to be maladjusted to the evils of segregation and discrimination.
In thinking about King today, I was considering all the things in the world toward which it remains important to be maladjusted: violence, war, poverty, narrow mindedness, hatred…
It is encouraging to see you doing so much work to ensure that we never allow ourselves to become adjusted to these things.
Thank you.