Emory & Henry College celebrated the life of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, Jan. 16, by providing students, staff and faculty an opportunity to learn more about civil rights, race relations and the experiences of minorities who face discrimination in America.
At the Emory campus, multiple engaging presentations and interactive breakout sessions were held on campus throughout the day in a program that called on attendees to “Be the Face of Change.”
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Students, staff and faculty from the Emory & Henry College School of Health Science and School of Nursing at the Marion campus participated in the Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service throughout Marion and Smyth County.
In addition to the convocation events on the Emory campus, graduate students from the School of Health Sciences and faculty and staff from the School of Nursing at the Health Sciences campus in Marion, participated in a Day of Service in honor of Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, providing community service throughout Marion and Smyth County.
The college provided graduate students at the School of Health Science a day free from their usual classes by offering a selection of service sites in honor of Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Fifteen service sites and activities included cleaning homes, working at the Smyth County food pantry, splitting and organizing firewood and more.
According to Dr. King, “Everyone can be great because anyone can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”
Students at Emory & Henry College Health Sciences Campus demonstrated their greatness as they honored the life and legacy of Dr. King while providing service to deserving agencies. Students learned more about Dr. King, the Civil Rights Movement and why serving is one way that his family feels people can best honor him. Following the opening session students, faculty and staff were placed in interprofessional groups. They were assigned to one of the sites that had been selected, providing three and a half hours of service at their site after learning about the mission, goals and outreach of the organization.
“The King Day of Service brings together people who might not ordinarily meet, breaks down barriers that have divided us in the past, leads to better understanding and ongoing relationships and is an opportunity to recruit new volunteers for your ongoing work,” said Dean of Student Affairs and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging at the School of Health Sciences Tracey Wright.
The students, faculty and staff engaged with 15 service sites for nearly four hours, providing the agencies served with a warm sense of community and belonging in the spirit of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s teachings. “John Graham, Smyth County Circuit Court Clerk and Sarah Gillespie, Executive Director Smyth County Chamber of Commerce, provided invaluable information regarding agencies in our community that I might seek out as sites for our groups. I owe them a great debt for their recommendations,” said Wright.
Following the hours of service, the participants were asked to provide a reflection on their service. Students, faculty and staff from the School of Nursing and the School of Health Sciences reported emotional growth, a stronger sense of community and increased pride in the culture at Emory & Henry College.
“As the groups shared during their reflection, all that they had experienced and accomplished and their awareness of issues in our community that they were not previously aware or history that they were not aware of, my heart became full and I had to hold back the tears, as I realized that many, it not all of our goals for the day had been accomplished,” Wright shared.
Partial funding for the Day of Service was provided by a grant received from the Virginia Service Foundation. For more information about the Day of Service in honor of Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., contact Dean of Student Affairs and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging at the School of Health Sciences Tracey Wright at (276) 944-6490 or [email protected].
To learn more about the College’s Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Convocation “Be the Face of Change” on the Emory campus, you can visit www.ehc.edu/mlk23. Both keynotes were streamed to the Emory & Henry College YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/@EmoryHenryCollege.
