It’s ‘A Day On’ as IU observes MLK Jr. Day

Mary Frances Berry to speak Monday on Bloomington campus

By Jayne Spencer

Berry, the controversial chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, will speak on the Bloomington campus as the highlight of campus observances Monday (Jan. 21) at 6 p.m. in Whittenberger Auditorium, Indiana Memorial Union. A reception will follow the presentation.

Berry is the Segal Professor of American social thought and an historian at the University of Pennsylvania. She became familiar to television viewers as she chaired long hearings concerning discrepancies in the Florida presidential election counts of 2000.

As a member of the Civil Rights Commission since 1980, Berry has been a leader in a number of national civil rights initiatives and has received 28 honorary degrees. Among her books are The Politics of Parenthood, Child Care, Women’s Rights, and the Myth of the Good Mother (Viking Press, 1993) and The Farmer’s Daughter and Other Tales of American Justice (Knopf, 1999), which explores episodes of racism and sexism in the courts from 1865 to the present.

Other events centered around Martin Luther King Jr. Day include a massive volunteer effort organized in cooperation with a number of nonprofit agencies and the City of Bloomington (Go to Web site:

http://www.city.bloomington.in.us/

Click on Martin Luther King Jr. for upcoming and continuing volunteer opportunities) as “A Day On, Not a Day Off,” a tradition in many American communities.

Among Bloomington “Day On” Projects is a MLK Diversity Build by Habitat for Humanity, to be launched tomorrow (Jan. 19) with remarks by university and government leaders at 8 a.m. at a new housing site on Bryan Street.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the third Monday in January, was first declared a public holiday in the United States by President Ronald Reagan in 1983. A resolution passed by the Trustees of IU provided for the official observance of the day beginning in 1998 on all IU campuses. No classes are held, and the day is a holiday for employees.

A tribute concert to King at the IU School of Music was staged earlier this week in Bloomington, as well as a student re-enactment at Wright Quad of “freedom rides” during the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

“Dr. King’s birthday is a celebration of his life and values, but it is more than that,” said Gloria Gibson, chair of the IUB King Commission and associate vice chancellor of multicultural affairs. “The slogan ‘A Day On, Not A Day Off’ is very important. MLK Day is a day of learning, commitment and service, and I hope a great many students get involved.”

IUPUI will once again mark the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday with a “Day On” of community service. Staff, faculty and students will perform volunteer services at several Indianapolis community sites during the campus’s fourth annual “Day On.” The IUPUI campus continues to build upon the tradition of spending the King holiday doing volunteer community work, rather than using the holiday just as a day off, said David Fredricks, grant project manager of the Office of Neighborhood Resources.

”Dr. Martin Luther King was a very staunch believer in giving back to one’s community by volunteering in some form or fashion,” Fredricks said. “In King’s day, it was volunteering toward the civil rights. Today we can work toward ending some of the social ills of society, such as homelessness and the lack of adequate safe places for community youth activities.”

The 32nd annual IUPUI King Dinner, sponsored by the Black Student Union at the Indiana Roof Ballroom, will conclude the day with an appearance by Minnijean Brown-Trickey who as a teenager was one of the Little Rock Nine, the group of students who integrated Arkansas’ Little Rock High School in 1957.

On other campuses

IU Kokomo will hold a King Day celebration Sunday (Jan. 20) at 3 p.m. in Havens Auditorium on the Kokomo campus. Tuesday (Jan. 22), the IU Southeast community has the opportunity to attend a racial issues dialogue, “Is Dr. King’s Dream Still Alive?” at 12:15 p.m. in the Scribner-Clark Room. Next weekend’s Gospel Fest at IU Southeast will culminate with a performance of the IU African-American Choir from Bloomington, directed by James Mumford, at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 26.

The New Albany community had gathered Tuesday (Jan. 15) for a candlelight vigil in McCullough Plaza. At IU East in Richmond, the community and campus joined last night (Jan. 17) at Vivian Auditorium in Whitewater Hall for poetry readings, inspirational readings, speeches and selected songs sung by the Mt. Olive Baptist Church Choir. The celebration was led by Mt. Olive’s pastor, Earnest Randle.

“Continuing the Dream: Civic and Voter Responsibility” was the topic of a presentation and panel discussion Wednesday (Jan. 16) at IU Northwest’s Northside Hall. Wintley Augustus Phipps, founder and president of the U.S. Dream Academy, Inc. ,was a guest on the IPFW campus Monday (Jan. 14) night.

For more IU Bloomington commemorations:

http://www.indiana.edu/~libugls/MLK/events.html