Iiyannaa Graham-Siphanoum, Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging, in partnership with the Student Life and DEIB office, shared a week’s worth of programming in honor of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This week was a vibrant celebration of Dr. King’s legacy, blending education with reflection, offering numerous opportunities to remember this great leader and inspire meaningful dialogue.
Sunday evening began with a movie screening of “Selma,” the biographical drama depicting Dr. King’s fight for voting rights in 1965. Students gained a deeper understanding of the events leading up to the Selma-to-Montgomery march and the signing of the Voting Rights Act.
Monday, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, featured an impactful Morning Meeting where student voices rang through our historic space. Participants in The Student Diversity Leadership Conference & People of Color Conference in Denver, Colorado this past December shared reflections from their experience, highlighting Dr. King’s enduring call for equity and justice.
Tuesday found our students in conversation following a viewing of “False Positive,” an ESPN 30-for-30 episode that shared the story of track star Butch Reynolds and his 1990 false positive drug test that ultimately led to Reynolds’ suspension. Our community was fortunate to hear from director Ismail Al-Amin, sparking discussions about resilience and the never ending pursuit of justice.
On Wednesday, students honored Dr. King’s spirit of service as they assembled welcome bags for incoming refugee families in partnership with the International Institute of Akron. This hands-on event underscored the importance of compassion and collective action.
A reception was held Thursday evening to celebrate “Votes. Voices. Victory. The Fight for Civil Rights,” a new interactive exhibit in the Moos Gallery showcasing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s involvement in the U.S. Civil Rights Movement. Attendees explored student activism, unsung heroes and the ongoing fight against voter suppression. The evening concluded with music, desserts and meaningful reflection, and the exhibit will be on display in the weeks ahead.
Dr. Joshua Bennett, an award-winning poet, author, scholar and educator, joined us as Keynote and Bicentennial Speaker on Friday morning. Graham-Siphanoum shared that she discovered the power of Dr. Bennett’s words when she was not much older than the students filling our Chapel. Grappling with the weight of injustice and inequality, she found hope in Dr. Bennett’s message. As we journeyed through Dr. Bennett’s poetry (delivered/performed/exclaimed powerfully by memory), enveloped by words for his students, for his love, for his father, for his children, this hope prevailed.
“I am not invisible. I’m a beam of light too brilliant for untrained vision.”
“...if I could borrow the breeze for just a moment, I’d blow the shoreline of every beach into a giant hourglass just for us and say “‘This. This is how long I will adore the things about you that no one else even notices.’”
“When a stranger is not a threat, but the promise of a different ending.”
“As I write this you rest in a graphite gray carrier on my chest, your thinking adorned with language that obeys no order my calcified mind can express.”
From empowerment to wonder, gratitude to responsibility and honor, Dr. Bennett’s poetry conjured images of his younger self at a microphone performing beat poetry in a library, in front of classrooms of students in the early days of his career, meeting the eyes of his future wife for the first time, cradling a swaddled baby. There could not be a more fitting tribute and conclusion to a week of intentional programs designed to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. than hearing Dr. Bennett’s overwhelming message of love.
