U. pauses to commemorate King

A day commemorating Martin Luther King Jr. culminated in candles dotting the night sky outside of W.E.B. DuBois College House last night during a vigil for the slain civil rights leader. In the University's first official observance of King's birthday, the vigil kicked off a two-week University-wide symposium of events celebrating the life and teachings of the late activist yesterday. "The theme of both Philadelphia's MLK celebration and the University's celebration is to 'make it a day on and not a day off,'" said Julie Carroll, a member of the MLK Day Committee. In recognition of the holiday, offices at Penn remained closed and classes were cancelled yesterday to allow people to participate in community service events or attend speaker presentations. And event coordinators -- worried that student turnout would be low because the date of the celebration came right after winter vacation -- were pleased with the response. "The University being officially closed has allowed people the opportunity to be of service to others," MLK Day committee member Angela Scott said. To celebrate, faculty, staff and West Philadelphians were encouraged to come back to campus for the day, and to bring their families with them. "This year is the first year we will be having a community service component," explained Jack Lewis, chairman of the MLK Day Planning Committee. "There is always room for more participation," he added. Lewis is also the associate director of the African American Resource Center. The morning began with a motivational breakfast in DuBois. Over bagels, muffins and juice, University President Judith Rodin greeted participants. Rev. Bernard James of the Metropolitan Baptist Church then encouraged the assembly to go out and make the day a productive one. "We continue to sing 'Free at Last,' but for many that is just a big lie," James told the standing-room only crowd. "If America is to be a great nation, freedom, justice and opportunities for everyone must ring." After breakfast, teams headed down to Heston Elementary School on 54th Street and Lancaster Avenue to help with general site maintenance. Other participants attended a tutoring training session for "Philadelphia Reads," a literacy initiative sponsored by the office of Mayor John Street. Connie Major, a reading specialist with the program, spent over an hour instructing the around 40 participants in ways to aid youngsters with reading skills. While their parents painted Heston School or learned how to tutor a child, the youngest participants were knee-deep in art projects at the ARCH building at 36th and Locust streets. Twenty-five children put paintbrush to canvas and created several banners depicting the ideals of King, which will soon be hung on Locust Walk. "The kids understood the spirit of the day," said event organizer Caroll, who is also the director of administration for the Nursing School's office of academic affairs. Seven-year-old Joseph Ruffin came with his mother to the banner painting and took special joy in drawing a rendition of King himself on one of the banners. "[King] was special to me because he preached and he died fighting for fair laws for black people," Ruffin said. Later in the afternoon at the Penn Tower Hotel, the African American Association of Administrators, Faculty and Staff held a King commemorative program with the theme "Power Concedes Nothing Without Struggle." At evening's end, over 100 students joined the brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha's Psi chapter to commemorate King's memory with a candlelight vigil. Linking arms in a procession down Locust Walk to Houston Hall, the students sang "We Shall Overcome." In the end, event organizers were pleasantly surprised with student attendance. Carroll, for one, was shocked at the turnout at the morning banner painting event. The celebration, which will include a book drive for local school children, a special movie series on ResNet, and several other speakers, will end January 27.

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