Feb. 3, 2005

MLK Day of Service

GW Honors Civil Rights Leader Through Community Efforts

By John Carroll

In observance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, student volunteers fanned out from the Foggy Bottom Campus via the Metro and shuttle bus to service sites across the DC metropolitan area for GW’s annual service project, Jan. 22. The event is an opportunity to celebrate the MLK holiday in a selfless and uplifting fashion. This year’s theme was “Be a Light, Live the Dream.”

Despite the season’s first major snowfall, 143 students turned out in a gesture of commitment to the importance of the holiday.

Volunteers were dispatched to various locations where they prepared meals for the homeless, assisted the elderly, helped winterize a local community center and more. The locations included Goodwill of Greater DC, We Are Family, Foggy Bottom Food Pantry, Washington Parks, and People-Josephine Butler Building.

At We Are Family, students paid a friendly visit to the elderly. Ardis Strong, a senior fine arts major found the quality time she spent checking in with the seniors as informative as it was uplifting. “Many had been living in DC for most of their lives,” said Strong. “They shared with us their experiences and memories of being part of the civil rights era in Washington.”

GW’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. awards ceremony was held on Jan. 27. This year’s award recipients chosen for their outstanding commitment to the ideals set forth by King were Shajine Gregory, Paul Kendrick, and Rudy Perecin.

Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu