University Celebrates Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Week

By Tanvi Hathiramani

Thursday, Jan. 11, marks the beginning of the University’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. week, sponsored by the Multicultural Programs and Services and the Center for Leadership Services. The month long celebration of MLK consists of speakers and exhibits.

“We’ve been planning this for over a year now, once the events are over, we reconvene to evaluate the events, and begin planning for the following year,” MLK Committee Chairwoman Dorret Sawyers said. Although Sawyers is the chairwoman for the overall program, the talent of many is hidden behind a curtain.

“We all work on the MLK committee, but I have subcommittees. There is a sub-chairperson for each and every event, but the overall committee I chair it. We have monthly meetings, but we’ve come down to weekly meetings to prepare.” said Sawyers.

Sawyers has been part of 26 of the 27 celebrations hosted at the University, and has been the MLK Week Chairwoman for the past 9 years, and has seen the events grow over time.

“Our Unity is Our Strength” has been chosen as this year’s theme, according to Sawyers.

“It’s extremely relevant with what’s happening these days… I read the statement ‘United We Stand, Together We Fall’ and it got me thinking.”

This Thursday evening, Jan. 11, the office of MPAS will be holding an invite-only reception to thank their sponsors, as well as award three lucky students a scholarship following their MLK Essay Contest.

Sawyers opens up about the reception: “The event is an invite-only event where we will award FIU students the MLK Scholarship, we decided to open it up to freshman this year and in the end we had two freshman place. We’ll also be recognizing our sponsors who helped make this happen”

On Friday, Jan.12, MPAS will host the 27th Annual Commemorative Breakfast, featuring this year’s keynote speaker Valarie Kaur, a civil rights and social justice activist. The breakfast will take place in Graham Center Ballrooms at 8am.

Monday, Jan.15, the MLK Day of Service and the MLK Parade both take place. The former has been put together by the Center for Leadership and Service, and the latter by Multicultural Programs and Services.

FIU volunteers have come together to bring this event to its students and staff, which will give others an opportunity to give back to its community through the beautification and restoration of local areas. With the help of students, staff, and the community FIU has been able to take part in the MLK Parade Contingency for years, and will continue to do so this year. The parade contingency will leave FIU, Lot 5 at 8 a.m. to go to Miami.

BBC will be hosting the Robert M. Coatie MLK Youth Forum & Peace Walk on Wednesday, Jan.17. The forum features Tonya Rapley a a nationally recognized money expert and creator of My Fab Finance. The forum will take place in the Wolfe Center Ballrooms; the walk will occur following the forum. BBC is expecting over 300 high school students to attend the walk.

The walk began following the Columbine shooting, and is meant to be “a reflective walk by Biscayne Bay to promote the idea of worldwide peace.” according to the FIU website. The Black Student Union Council will also be hosting a MLK dinner in the GC Ballrooms at 7 p.m. that same night.

Dawoud Bey’s exhibit: The Birmingham Project, at the Phillip & Patricia Frost Museum will be featured in the MLK Jr. exhibit beginning Thursday, Jan. 18, and will continue until Sunday, March 18. The exhibit has been sponsored by the College of Arts, Sciences & Education, Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work, Communication, Architecture and The Arts, Alumni Relations, and Multicultural Programs and Services.

The exhibit, according to FIU News, “addresses issues of race, diversity, social justice, civil rights, and humanity to serve as a catalyst for dialogue and to enrich our community with new perspectives.”

To end the festivities, the final event will take place Monday, Jan. 22, with an MLK evening for Student Access & Success (SAS) graduate fellows in GC 243 at 7 p.m.

“This is the work of everyone in the committees, and this has been such a hard working committee that have put together all of these events.” Sawyers closes off with.

For more information on the events you can contact the office of Multicultural Programs and Services at 305-348-2436 or in GC 216.