More than 1,000 students participated in the 20th March on West in 2011. Students marched through the Paley Gates and gathered on the Fletcher Lawn where they listened to speakers and Charles St. Clair's recreation of Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. (State Press)Throughout the week of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, ASU will celebrate the social justice leader’s life with intercampus events including awards breakfasts, festivals and reenactments.
Despite these festivities, many students are unaware of university-coordinated celebrations. English literature senior Taylin Nelson said she does not have plans for the holiday.
“I will probably be catching up on homework and hanging out with my friend,” she said. “I don’t know about any events.”
Downtown
On Jan. 19, the ASU Black Alumni Chapter will host the Martin Luther King Jr. March and Festival to kick off the week. Beginning at 9 a.m., participants will march from Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church to Margaret T. Hance Deck Park, where a festival will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m..
West
ASU’s West campus will host its 24th annual “I Have a Dream” reenactment on Jan. 21 at 11 a.m. Elementary students from across the Valley will attend the march, followed by a performance from the West campus fine arts specialist Charles St. Clair.
St. Clair said he hopes to inspire change in the area’s youth with the event.
“(Teachers) give students historical background and they then prepare for the march and what they’re marching for –– all the brutality that happen before and during and all of the sacrifices they made…so that they could gather in freedom,” he said.
Despite his performance, St. Clair said he does not deserve the spotlight.
“It’s not about me,” he said. “It’s about something much bigger.”
Tempe
The 30th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast Celebration, which will take place Jan. 21 from 7 to 9 a.m. at the MU, will feature a performance from the cast of “Motown, the musical.”
Colleen Jennings-Roggensack, ASU Gammage executive director and MLK Committee chair-holder, said the preformance is an appropriate choice because of its focus.
“What Berry Gordy did as as an entrepreneur to solidify music as African-American music and mainstream it at a time when race and record labels were segregated, is exactly a tenant of Dr. King,” she said.
The awards breakfast will honor the services of Art Hamilton and Rivka Rocchio. Jennings-Roggensack said she believes these individuals have upheld the legacy of King through servant-leadership.
“We have always had major changes in the world through phenomenal individuals,” she said. “I think it’s important never to forget those individuals, and more important to remember what they stood for…The work is never done. It’s up to us to continue to move it forward.”
Following the breakfast, there will be an MLK Student Rally and Student Organization Fair. All participants are welcome to visit Hayden Lawn from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. to learn the 10 characteristics of servant leaders while celebrating the importance of King’s legacy, Jennings-Roggensack said.
“The world is global, whether you live in Tempe or Tokyo,” she said. “What Dr. King’s tenets were about was all of us working collectively for the good of all of us and knowing how to live together.”
To learn more about ASU’s events, click here.
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