Editor's note: Penn State campuses continue to commemorate the life and legacy of Martin Luther King this week with several activities and events offered through Friday, Jan. 21, including:
— Penn State University Park — Day of Service activities, Jan. 19 and 20; Food Drive, Jan. 18-21; MLK Evening Celebration on Jan. 20, with keynote speaker LaTosha Brown
— Penn State World Campus — Several activities throughout the week
— Penn State Behrend — Documentary: "At The River I Stand, the Climax of the Civil Rights Movement," on Jan. 19
— Penn State Brandywine — Several activities throughout the week
— Penn State Harrisburg — Play: "Rockers" — available virtually until 8 p.m. Jan. 18
— Penn State Hazleton — Martin Luther King reception, Jan. 20
— Penn State Scranton — Keynote speaker Bettie Mae Fikes, "The Voice of Selma” (virtual), Jan. 18
— Penn State Wilkes-Barre — Several activities throughout the week
— Penn College — Several activities throughout the week
In addition, in February, Penn State World Campus will hold a “Hard to Hate Up Close” Open Mic Night, on Feb. 1; and Penn State DuBois will host a keynote with Bernice King, on Feb. 16.
See below for more details about these upcoming events.
Penn State campus communities will honor the life and legacy of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. with virtual events and activities on MLK Day, Jan. 17, and more. Participants will be expected to follow all University COVID-19 requirements for in-person activities.
Penn State University Park
MLK Week of Service —
— Wednesday, Jan. 19, noon-2 p.m. in rooms HUB 103, 107 and 111
— Thursday, Jan. 20, 2:30–4:30 p.m. in rooms HUB 103, 110 and 111
Opportunities for students to serve the local community will be available at service stations, with limited, organized in-person activities including letter writing, blanket making and backpack packing. Register here to participate and to receive updates.
Food Drive — Tuesday through Friday, Jan. 18-21, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Students can drop off non-perishable food and non-food items in 103 HUB-Robeson Center.
MLK Evening Celebration Speaker: LaTosha Brown — Thursday, Jan. 20, 7 p.m. Keynote speaker LaTosha Brown will present "Who Will Save American Democracy? The Role of Women, Young Voters and People of Color in American Politics." Brown's virtual guest lecture will be hosted at https://www.watch.psu.edu/mlk/.
Penn State World Campus
Penn State World Campus is hosting several virtual engagement opportunities in honor of MLK Day.
Social Change Wheel: How Can You Take Action? — Tuesday, Jan. 18, 6:30– 8 p.m, virtual. How can you be an agent for social change? Explore the Social Change Wheel 2.0, a model from the University of Minnesota's Campus Compact. Register here.
Alumni in Action: Filmmaker Jacob Mejias — Thursday, Jan. 20, 7–8 p.m. Filmmaker Jacob Mejias, a May 2021 Penn State graduate, will discuss directing his documentary about racial justice protests in Philadelphia in the summer of 2020. Register here.
"Thursday Night Live" Social and Networking Event — Thursday, Jan. 20, 8– 9 p.m. These recurring online events provide an opportunity for all World Campus students to network and socialize while student leaders share information about their groups and organizations. Register here.
Film Screening: “I Am Not Your Negro” — Friday, Jan. 21, 8–9:30 p.m. Join us for a screening of this 2016 documentary expanding the work of James Baldwin on the peril America faces from institutionalized racism. Register here.
“Hard to Hate Up Close” Open Mic Night — Tuesday, Feb. 1, 7–8 p.m. Tell your story through spoken word, storytelling, music, song, or some other means of self-expression. We invite students, faculty and staff to participate in this event, which we hope will serve as a platform for us to better see one another and discover common ground. Register here to watch or to sign up to perform.
Penn State Altoona
Penn State Altoona will offer social-justice-themed canvas painting and letter writing in Slep Pondview, at 5 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 17.
Penn State Beaver
MLK Day of Service — Monday, Jan. 17. Students from the Dubois, Fayette, Greater Allegheny and New Kensington campuses will be joining Penn State Beaver students for the MLK Day of Service. After check-in there will be a keynote address given by Donald Sheffield, who provides extensive diversity and cultural competency training for corporations, businesses, social service agencies and schools. The students will then be volunteering several non-profits in Beaver County including Neighborhood North Children's Museum, SOMA, the Beaver County Humane Society, the Franklin Center of Beaver County, and the Sisters of St. Joseph.
Penn State Behrend
MLK Day of Service — Monday, Jan. 17, 9:30 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. Meet at Reed Union Building Room 117 Auditorium at 9:15 a.m. Students, faculty and staff will carry on Dr. King’s legacy of civic engagement by participating in community service throughout Erie. Sponsored by Penn State Behrend’s Office for Civic and Community Engagement. More information.
“Turning Pain Into Purpose," a conversation with Philonise Floyd – Monday, Jan. 17, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., Reed Union Bldg., McGarvey Commons. At this event, hosted and facilitated by campus student leaders and the director of educational equity programs, Floyd, an activist and sibling of George Floyd, will discuss how the painful and tragic experience of losing his brother and the reaction by the country afterward impacted his life and his purpose. More information.
Documentary: "At The River I Stand, the Climax of the Civil Rights Movement" — Wednesday, Jan. 19, noon–1 p.m. and 5–6 p.m. (two showings), Reed Union Building, Room 117 Auditorium. This film reconstructs the two eventful months that transformed a strike by Memphis sanitation workers into a national conflagration, and aims to disentangle the complex historical forces that came together with the inevitability of tragedy at the death of Martin Luther King Jr. More information.
Penn State Berks
MLK Jr. Awards Banquet — Monday, Jan. 17, at 6 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room, Perkins Student Center. The DEI Committee will host its annual event with the theme of “The Road Ahead,” and featuring keynote speaker Elta Jackson-Henry, religious affairs Committee chairperson for the Reading, Pennsylvania, Branch of the NAACP. The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required at this link.
Award recipients are Berks students, faculty and staff members, as well as a Reading Area K-12 student, who embody the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. through community service, leadership and commitment to social justice and positive change on campus and in the community.
Penn State Brandywine
Penn State Brandywine’s Center for Ethics and Civic Engagement is presenting a week-long lineup of programming that includes service, education and activism opportunities:
— Day of Service — Monday, Jan. 17, 10 a.m.-noon, Student Union 114-117. Students, faculty, staff and the public are invited to this morning of service to honor King’s life and legacy. Student volunteers will lead a variety of family-friendly service projects, crafts and educational activities.
— Living Room Conversation — Tuesday, Jan. 18, noon-1:45 p.m., Student Union 114-117. Join an exchange of ideas on combating racism using a model developed by dialogue experts to facilitate connections. Open to Penn State students, faculty and staff.
— Social Change Wheel: How can you take action? — Tuesday, Jan. 18, 6:30-8 p.m. via Zoom. How can you be an agent for social change? Explore the Social Change Wheel 2.0, a model from the University of Minnesota’s Campus Compact. Open to the public. Advance registration required.
— MLK Trivia Kahoot — Wednesday, Jan. 19, 12:15-1:15 p.m., Student Union Parsons Hall. Test your knowledge of the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. Open to Penn State students, faculty and staff.
— Alumni in Action. Filmmaker Jacob Mejias — Thursday, Jan. 20, 7-8 p.m., Student Union 114-117 and via Zoom. Mejias, a May 2021 Penn State graduate, will discuss directing his documentary about racial justice protests in Philadelphia in the summer of 2020. Open to the public. Advance registration required for Zoom.
— Student Hunger @ BW — Friday, Jan. 21, 12:15-1:15 p.m., Main 113. Learn about student hunger on our campus and beyond from the student interns engaged in operating Brandywine’s campus food pantry. Open to Penn State students, faculty and staff.
— Documentary: “I Am Not Your Negro" — Friday, Jan. 21, 8 p.m., Student Union Parsons Hall and via Zoom. Join us for a screening of this 2016 documentary expanding the work of James Baldwin on the peril America faces from institutionalized racism. Open to the public. Advance registration required for Zoom.
Penn State DuBois
MLK Day of Service, Jan. 17 — Students will have the opportunity to perform community service in honor of King’s work. While Penn State students have the national observance "day off " from classes, this event allows students to participate in a "day on" of service. This year, this event will be held at Penn State Beaver.
Documentary: "King in the Wilderness" — Throughout the week of Jan. 17. The IDREAM Team at Penn State DuBois will be promoting "King in the Wilderness," a critically acclaimed HBO documentary which focuses on the final three years of King's life. This free documentary is available to the Penn State community at this link.
Bernice King keynote — Feb. 16, 12:15 p.m. — Bernice King, minister, attorney and daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., will join several campus communities virtually for a collaborative speaking engagement.
Penn State Fayette
"I Have A Dream" speech — Friday, Jan. 14, 12:15 p.m., Williams Building, Swimmer Hall. In anticipation for Martin Luther King Day, the campus community is invited to view Dr. King’s iconic Dream Speech followed by a discussion. Sponsored by the Office of Student Affairs.
MLK Day of Service — Monday, Jan. 17. Penn State students from the western campuses will be participating in community service throughout the region. This year’s Day of Service will be held at Penn State Beaver.
Penn State Harrisburg
Play: "Rockers" — premieres Monday, Jan. 17, and available until 8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 18, virtually on YouTube.
PenOwl Productions has joined with the Penn State Harrisburg School of Humanities’ American Studies program to present the virtual premiere of a seated reading of the play “Rockers,” in celebration of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
The play is an examination of relationship issues between a husband and wife as they grapple with love, loss, hope and happiness. In the end, the couple must figure out how to stay true to themselves without ignoring the needs and concerns of others.
Penn State Hazleton
Martin Luther King Jr. Reception — Thursday, Jan. 20 (time to be announced), in the Charles T. Butler Teaching and Learning Resource Center. The reception will honor King's life and legacy. Students, staff and faculty are encouraged to consider writing their diversity-related goals for the semester on a promise board during the reception. Refreshments will be provided.
Penn State Scranton
Keynote: Bettie Mae Fikes, "The Voice of Selma” — Please note date and time change: Tuesday, Jan. 18, 11:30 a.m., The View Café and virtually. Free and open to the public, registration is required for both the in-person and virtual event. Register here.
Penn State Scranton celebrates its sixth annual MLK Day Celebration and Excellence in Diversity Awards with a presentation by Bettie Mae Fikes, "The Voice of Selma." In 1963, Fikes was jailed for several weeks for protesting during the voting rights struggle in Selma, Alabama, and her powerful singing voice inspired Blacks there to fight for equality. A dynamic lecturer, Fikes has delivered moving speeches about diversity and civil rights at universities throughout the United States and Canada with a message that is universal, timely and timelessly trans-generational. Read more about Fikes here.
Prior to Fikes' presentation, Chancellor Marwan A. Wafa will also recognize and present the winners of the 2021 Excellence in Diversity Awards. Each year, a member from the local community, as well as from Penn State Scranton, are selected.
Penn State Shenango
MLK Day of Service — Monday, Jan. 17. Penn State Shenango student volunteers will be going to the Medical Equipment Recycling Program (MERP) in Farrell, Pennsylvania, to clean, sort and do minor repairs on donated equipment in honor of MLK Day. Contact Shenango Student Affairs at 724-983-2836 for more information.
Penn State Wilkes-Barre
Open Mic Coffeehouse — Tuesday, Jan. 18, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Student Commons. Penn State Wilkes-Barre will host an Open Mic Coffeehouse to honor King's spirit and memory. This event is sponsored by the Exploring Diversity Through Life Experiences Discussion Series. Our campus community will share poems, songs, musical performances and speeches to honor legacies of hope, freedom, justice and unity. Free coffee is available in the cafeteria.
Civility and Peace Talking Circle — Wednesday, Jan. 19, 12:15–1:15 p.m., Science Building, room 106. Penn State Wilkes-Barre will hold a restorative talking circle on civility and peace to celebrate King and his legacy. All participants will have the chance to talk about what civility and peace mean to them as well as their experiences in practicing them. This session is limited to 18 participants; pre-registration is required. Refreshments are sponsored by Student Affairs.
Civility and Peace Talking Circle — Thursday, Jan. 20, 4:30–5:30 p.m., Science Building, room 106. Penn State Wilkes-Barre will hold a restorative talking circle on civility and peace to celebrate King and his legacy. All participants will have the chance to talk about what civility and peace mean to them as well as their experiences in practicing them. This session is limited to 18 participants. Pre-registration is required. Refreshments are sponsored by Student Affairs.
Pennsylvania College of Technology
This year's Dream Week is a collaboration among STEP AmeriCorps, members of the former Beloved Community Council, Penn College, Lycoming College, and the local chapter of the NAACP. Links for this year’s virtual events are below but also are offered via a Facebook event.
Events include a Jan. 17 Peace Walk (register here); a virtual talk by theology professor, church anti-racism leader and social change practitioner Drew G.I. Hart on Jan. 17; and an in-person talk by Anthony McPherson, resident poet with the National Museum of African American History & Culture, on Jan. 19.