Campus Life

Penn State Behrend to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. with week of activities

Penn State Behrend will honor Martin Luther King Jr. with a week of events and activities beginning Monday, Jan. 21. Credit: Penn State Behrend / Penn StateCreative Commons

ERIE, Pa. — Penn State Behrend will honor Martin Luther King Jr. with a week of events and activities beginning Monday, Jan. 21.

Included as part of the programming is the airing of the documentary “Remixing Colorblind,” which examines how the educational system today shapes our understanding of race and race relations. The film explores notions of implicit bias, individual racism, institutional racism and reverse racism.

The film will be shown from 2:30 to 4 p.m. on Jan. 21 in the McGarvey Commons of the college’s Reed Union Building. Admission is free and open to the public, and the film screening will be followed by a Q&A session with producer and director Sheena C. Howard.

The following additional events, also all free and open to the public, will be held throughout the week:

  • Monday, Jan. 21: Annual Martin Luther King March in downtown Erie. Join the Association of Black Collegians and other members of the campus community as they participate in Erie’s annual MLK March. Participants will meet in the Reed Union Building’s lobby at 11 a.m. and ride an EMTA bus to the site of the march.
  • Community service projects. Students carry on King’s legacy of service and civic engagement by volunteering with local community organizations on this national day of service. 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
  • Tuesday, Jan. 22: Documentary screening of “At the River I Stand, The Climax of the Civil Rights Movement.” This film skillfully reconstructs the two eventful months that transformed a strike by Memphis sanitation workers into a national conflagration. It disentangles the complex historical forces that came together with the inevitability of tragedy at the death of Martin Luther King Jr. Noon to 1 p.m., Reed Auditorium.
  • Wednesday, Jan. 23: Yes We C.A.N. “Yes We Connect and Network” provides Behrend students and youth from the Erie community with the opportunity to meet and network. On this day, students from local high schools visit campus for a day filled with educational, cultural and social activities facilitated by Behrend students. The event is presented by the Multi-Cultural Council, the Association of Black Collegians, the Organization of African and Caribbean Students, the American Association of University Women, the Human Relations Programming Council, the Office of Admissions, and the Office of Educational Equity & Diversity Programs. 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., various locations on campus.
  • Friday, Jan. 25: Living the Dream. A group of students from East Middle School will visit campus and participate in a number of interactive activities with Behrend students, including learning about contemporary African dances and their origins. This event is presented by the Association of Black Collegians, the Organization of African and Caribbean Students, and the Dream Queens Dance Ensemble. 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., McGarvey Commons.

Penn State Behrend’s annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. commemoration is sponsored by the Office of Educational Equity and Diversity Programs and the Student Activity Fee. For more information, call 898-7101 or email DiversityBehrend@psu.edu.

Last Updated January 8, 2019

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