George Washington community members celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. last week by recognizing those following in his footsteps and dedicating a day of service at sites around the community to honor the civil rights leader’s selflessness and passion for social justice.
On Thursday, GW recognized 18 students and faculty with awards for their service, leadership and integrity during a ceremony at the Dorothy Betts Marvin Theatre. It featured a vocal and step performance by Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., which is dedicated to giving a voice to the struggle of African Americans.
Winners recognized throughout the evening were volunteers, mentors and LGBT advocates. They were those working to bring people out of poverty, and those working to improve the lives of immigrants. The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Award winners included: Natasha Dupee, Karissa Broderick-Beck, Emi Kamemoto, Maya Thomas, Uchenna Nwokike and Michael Komo.
“King Commendation” winners included Markus Batchelor, Anthony Bellmon, Destiney Bishop, Whitney Dixon, Alix Montes, Song Nguyen, Isabel Parilis, Chris Wang, Meredith Waters, Malissa Wilkins, and faculty members Dana Tai Soon Burgess and Travis Wright.
The award winners were part of an event that was especially meaningful this year, GW President Steven Knapp told a filled auditorium, given the newly unveiled National Mall monument to Dr. King and the recent bench dedication on campus to Toni Morrison, the first African American woman to win the Nobel Prize in literature.
The university has come a long way. In the ’40s, Lisner Auditorium was segregated—until actress Ingrid Bergman came to perform. She was “outraged to find that the theater in which she would be acting was off-limits to many of our citizens of this great capital city, the capital of the most democratic nation of the free world,” said Dr. Knapp. Soon, GW desegregated the auditorium, setting off one of the first moments of the civil rights movement, according to Dr. Knapp.
The evening wasn’t just about the past.
“We also have the opportunity not just to reflect on the history but to recognize the ongoing power of the values of the example of Dr. King by recognizing members of our own community who embody those values,” Dr. Knapp said, speaking alongside a projection of the civil rights leader.
In his address, Robert Chernak, senior vice president for student and academic support services, also reflected on the importance of Dr. King’s legacy, calling him a “catalytic force to positive change in so many ways.” Like Dr. King, the award winners had a strong commitment to social justice and community service, he said.
“And just as Dr. King’s efforts were a foundation for effective and positive change in society,” Dr. Chernak said, “so too we expect that tonight’s honorees, moving forward, will become part of that legacy of service, leadership and scholarship that will live on beyond their current roles on our campus.”
On Saturday, more than 400 GW community members participated in a day of service, giving a hand at sites that included five D.C. schools and 13 parks and recreation centers. Students also worked on projects to benefit the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), which supports families of deceased members of the military.
At a packed kick-off rally in the Marvin Center Grand Ballroom, Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service Executive Director Amy Cohen thanked students for their dedication to service, even on a snowy, icy January morning. “As Dr. King said, all men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality,” she said. “By working together, we’ll join our diversity to a common purpose.”
Dr. Knapp called the day of service “the capstone” of a significant year at GW, in which interfaith understanding has had a central role. As part of President Obama’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge, he said, GW has been focusing on connecting service activities with reflection on the many moral and faith traditions of the campus community.
“Thanks for continuing to demonstrate your passion for changing the world, which is the hallmark of this student body—more than any other in this country,” he said. “Please keep serving.”
Jesus Aguirre, interim director of the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation, told students that his agency and others in the District like it rely on the generosity of volunteers, especially during time of budget shortfalls, to complete their work. “Our residents will be very grateful,” he said, encouraging students to “live a life that respects and honors the opportunities we’ve had.”
Before the volunteers boarded buses to their service sites, students from four faith traditions—Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism—spoke briefly about their beliefs and explained the ties that Dr. King had to each.
Junior Shivam Gosai described how Dr. King was inspired by the nonviolent resistance methods of Mahatma Gandhi. Graduate student Fei Wang explained how Buddhists aspire for the salvation of the entire world, not just one person or group of people, and described how Dr. King echoed this belief in his insistence that no person can truly be free when others are oppressed.
Director of the Multicultural Student Services Center Michael Tapscott played excerpts from Dr. King’s famous speeches and described his own experiences as a nine-year-old witnessing the March on Washington in 1963. He reminded students that Dr. King knew his death was imminent, but continued on the path of righteousness nonetheless.
“In the spirit of King, I’d like you to maintain your enthusiasm for service,” he said. “Do it with all your might, be active, be energetic, and you will achieve your object.”
Sophomore Sheri Reid served as a site leader for a group working at Eastern High School in Northeast D.C. to paint a mural, organize a storage closet and create a school calendar. Ms. Reid said she tries to take advantage of as many service opportunities as she can at GW.
“If [Dr. King] can give his life for the cause, we can all take a day to serve someone else,” she said.
More than 200 GW student-athletes were among those participating in the day of service, including members of the volleyball and softball teams, who gathered at M.C. Terrell/McGogney Elementary School in Southeast D.C. to label library books and create a mural. Patrick Nero, director of Athletics and Recreation, said service is one his department’s top priorities.
“This is a way to show our appreciation to the community that supports us and does so many things for us,” Mr. Nero said. “GW students and student-athletes have a passion for changing the world, and days like this help them grow as people and as leaders, and really show the community what this university and the Athletics and Recreation Department stand for.”