The Penn State Behrend community kicked off their Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. commemoration activities on Monday with a campus brunch and a community march to honor the legacy of Dr. King.

 

Behrend’s commemoration activities span across the entire week from Jan. were broadcasted across campus with the slogan “He Had a Dream, I Have a Purpose.” The activities commenced on Dr. Martin Luther Jr. Day with a campus family brunch and a community march to pay homage to Dr. King’s legacy. Dozens of students, faculty, staff, and local community members filled McGarvey Commons for the brunch at 11 a.m.

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According to Director of Educational Equity and Diversity Andy Herrera, the brunch has been held for decades on Behrend’s campus to honor Dr. King’s tradition of having a family breakfast with his family every Sunday.

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At the campus family brunch, seven Behrend students performed a reading of the play “Montgomery Footsteps” by African American playwright and actor Ossie B. Davis. The one-act play reenacted the focal points and recreated the reality of the yearlong Montgomery, AL bus boycott in 1955 and 1956. The play included key civil rights figures like Dr. King, Rosa Parks, Fred Gray, and more.

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“After reading this play, it is so emotional and it reflects history so much that it gave me a small summary of the events. I started feeling what the people felt back then,” said Deniz Himmetoglu, one of the play readers who is also President of Behrend’s Multi-Cultural Council (MCC).

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Along with Himmetoglu, the play readers were Seun Babalola, Kristen Fanning, A’aryonna Fontes, Kyle Lambing, Elizabeth Malomo, and Marisela Poblete.

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“It is always a moment of pride when we have our students, themselves, doing things and organizing events here on campus,” said Herrera about the considerable student involvement in setting up the events of the Dr. King commemoration week.

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Following the brunch and play reading, the Association of Black Collegians (ABC) hosted their annual march from the Reed Union Building to the Smith Chapel at 1:15 a.m. ABC President Alexandria Johnson led the march. Johnson kicked off the march with a short speech explaining how the march symbolizes unity and pays respect to the several marches led by Dr. King in his quest for equal rights for African Americans.

 

“This week also provides the opportunity to show others that despite ABC representing the Association of Black Collegians that does not mean it is only for Black students. Every event, meeting, and gathering is for everyone no matter their race or ethnicity,” said Johnson.

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Once the march reached its destination, Behrend alumnus Samuel Epps IV spoke to the group on his experiences as a Behrend student and as Political Director of UNITE HERE Local 25, a labor union of hotel workers in the Washington metropolitan area.

 

During his time as a Behrend student, Epps was President of MCC and SGA at different points during his collegiate years. One of Epps’ primary messages to students was to continue to make social change, just as he and his friends did at Behrend.

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Whether it is change in the broader area of social justice or if it is change specifically on Behrend’s campus, Epps spoke of how the students in the room are the agents for change and how they must build off the work of those who came before them.

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The march and the speech by Epps concluded Monday’s commemoration events, but they were just the start of Behrend’s commemoration towards Dr. King. On Tuesday, the Organization of African and Caribbean Students (OACS) and Behrend’s Chapter of NAACP are hosting a poetry slam to invite students to share their stories and work in a safe space.

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The events continue on Wednesday with a forum on “The Power of Allyship” and a forum on Penn State’s “All In” initiative. These forums will be led Charleon Jeffries of Penn State’s Affirmative Action office; the “Allyship” forum takes place at 11:30 a.m. in McGarvey Commons, and the “All In” forum takes place at 5 p.m. in McGarvey Commons. The commemoration week’s events conclude with a performance by student band, The Kingdoms, on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in Bruno’s and with a screening of Nate Parker’s film “Birth of a Nation” at 10 p.m. in the Reed auditorium on Friday night.

 

A committee made up of Behrend students and faculty members decided on the events included in Behrend’s Dr. King commemoration week, and Herrera headed the committee.