By Nate MacIntire
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day hasn’t always been a free day for students at Penn State but 7 years ago the northeastern campuses started an annual day of recognition and service. Now, on January 19th, student leaders from Penn State’s Hazleton, Worthington, and Wilkes-Barre campuses gathered together in the early hours of the morning to continue on this new tradition and to give back to the community. Doctor Charlie Davis, the chancellor of the Wilkes-Barre campus at which this year’s event was held, gave a brief good morning to everyone and reminded them that this day was about helping other. Soon Ron Felton took the stage; a guest speaker who has been the president of the NAACP for 18 years. The hall boomed with his voice as he delivered his words, quoting King’s famous “I have a Dream” speech periodically, and challenging the students to make the day mean something. Mr. Felton brought up how Wilkes-Barre is the only metropolitan area in the northeast that doesn’t close its doors for this holiday despite it only costing the city $77 thousand after receiving a $1.5million wage increase. His speech closed with one more reminder to everyone to help freedom ring in all corners of this country, even down to the states of the south. Several students had questions for Mr. Felton but, due to time restraints, was only able to answer a few which all dealt with the rising diversity in the Wyoming Valley area.
Students were then led to an area where the painter Tom Verano had prepared an area for his performance. Verano painted four pieces but one had a particularly special meaning for the day; that of Martin Luther King, Jr. After completing the piece Verano talked briefly about the importance of King and the passion behind what he did. King’s passion led him to fight for others and he was an inspiration to Verano. The presentation ended with Verano giving parting words asking the students to pursue their passions like he and King did.
The rest of the afternoon was comprised of various volunteer activities where our students from Worthington went to the local hospital to help veterans there. Students participated by helping to serve the veterans their lunch and then set up and hosted a bingo event. Prizes were given out to winners by the hospital and the students turned the day into a unique experience for the veterans there: one they expressed they wished to have again.
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