ByGeorge!

February 2007

GW Answers Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Call to Serve

President Trachtenberg, Five Students Honored with Martin Luther King, Jr. Awards; 200 Students Participate in Day of Service

By Zak M. Salih

The GW community paid tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. last month with a series of events promoting the civil rights leader’s spirit of community service and leadership. On Jan. 31, staff, faculty, and students celebrated King’s birthday
by honoring recipients of the 2007 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Awards in the
University’s Dorothy Betts Marvin Theatre.

The awards are given annually to GW community members who exemplify King’s ideals through leadership, service, and overall contributions to the University and the city.

This year GW President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg received the first-ever award presented to a faculty or staff member.

“To be recognized alongside the outstanding students who have won this award is a great honor,” he says. “I commend our students for their tireless efforts to answer Dr. King’s call to service. They are a great source of pride for the entire University family.”

According to Michael Tapscott, director of the Multicultural Student Services Center (MSSC), the award program is expanding. Previously focused on undergraduate students, the awards recently started recognizing graduate students and now also faculty and staff. “We plan to include alumni in 2008 awards as well,” he says.

This year’s undergraduate student award winners are sophomore Selamawit Bedada, junior Samuel Fitzpatrick, and senior John Muller. The 2007 graduate student recipients are law student Christian Washington and public administration student and Presidential Administration Fellow Omar Woodard, B.A. ’05.

“I think everyone has a moral obligation to serve others,” says Woodard, a
former GW Student Association president and GW Wall of Fame honoree. “Those of us who have achieved and succeeded had tons of help and support from others, and it is only fitting to pay them back by paying it forward through public service.”
Leadership and service activities are crucial to a well-rounded education, according to Washington, founding member of the George Washington Williams House, a Project Excellence participant, and former member of the Student Association. “Just as law or medical school prepares one’s mind for a career in that field, engaging in community service and leadership activities while in graduate school prepares a student to continue to give back and enhance their community once they become a professional,” he says.

In addition to the awards ceremony, the Marvin Center Great Hall hosted an exhibition Jan. 16 to commemorate the vast impact of King and other African Americans on history. Displays featuring photos, famous quotations, and music highlighted the contributions of black inventors, artists, and civil rights leaders. “It’s about taking a few moments to reflect on Dr. King,” says Tapscott.

The Office of Community Service, in alliance with MSSC, GW Circle K, and Comcast, sponsored the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service on Jan. 20. Some 200 students gathered to volunteer at D.C. Central Kitchen, where they helped prepare the day’s food, and the Center for Creative Non-Violence, where they washed walls, sorted clothes, and performed other tasks.

“Students must become involved in the community,” says Muller, who has volunteered at the Adult Literacy Resource Center at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library and the Ward 7 Higher Achievement Center. “Otherwise, our schooling is worthless.”


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