Around 400 volunteers, including students, staff, alumni and other community members, gathered Monday morning at the University Public School Phoenix near the Downtown campus to perform service in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
The ASU MLK Committee and the ASU Community Service Program hosted the University’s 26th annual MLK Day of Service.
Following the day of service motto, the ASU community and Americans across the country chose to “make it a day on, not a day off.”
The University Public School Phoenix, also known as ASU Preparatory Academy, is a free public charter school that currently provides classes for students in kindergarten through eighth grade. The school works in conjunction with ASU and the Phoenix Elementary School District.
Volunteers signed up for service at the school as individuals or with groups, such as honor societies, sororities and families of students at the University Public School Phoenix. ASU provided free transportation from all four campuses as well as lunch.
Volunteers were separated into teams and sent off throughout the school’s campus for various activities like sweeping floors and stairways, dusting books in the libraries, cleaning gum off desks and moving furniture.
A special MLK challenge was set up for volunteers to write letters of thanks to the armed forces. More than 300 letters were written, falling short of a 500-letter goal.
Mina Ahmad, coordinator of the ASU Community Service Program, said the desired impact of the event is for students to make a commitment to serve throughout the coming semester and be inspired to give more than a day.
Education junior Hannah Nelssen, a peer mentor for her residential community at Taylor Place dorm, participated in the MLK Day of Service for the first time.
“It’s a great way to start off the semester,” Nelssen said. “My entire major is about giving back and it’s also a bonding thing for us.”
Gilbert Mayor John Lewis also attended the event.
“Martin Luther King Jr. was a leader who had a message that focused on the service of others,” Lewis said.
He said that in the current divisive climate, service is one of the best ways to bring people together.
American Indian Studies student Darius Enos came with his fellow members of the Epsilon Sigma Rho Multicultural Fraternity, a group that performs regular service throughout the year.
“[A] reason we’re out here is because we believe in MLK’s ideas of diversity and acceptance,” Enos said.
Gerry Petersen-Incorvaia, assistant principal of University Public School Phoenix, said the diversity of the volunteers mirrored the diversity of the school’s campus with many cultures and ethnicities working to beautify the community.
Although ASU’s MLK Committee picks different projects each year, Petersen-Incorvaia said he hopes volunteers continue to come back to the school and the number of volunteers grows, adding there are many opportunities for ASU students to get involved.
“It’s a cycle we are trying to instill in our students. We want our students to give back,” he said.
Other MLK events planned for the week include a breakfast celebration in Tempe and a student rally on Thursday, a play at the Downtown campus on Jan. 25 and a food drive on the West campus.
Reach the reporter at naberra@asu.edu
