Hundreds volunteer during University of La Verne’s MLK Day of Service

With a few simple supplies — glitter, glue, and green construction paper — a handful of college and elementary school students brought to life Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s message of unity.

Working together, the University of La Verne students and local children created an “I Have a Dream” mural at the dA Center for the Arts in Pomona, one of several service projects fulfilled by the campus community for the MLK Day of Service on Jan. 16.

“This is what the University of La Verne is about. This is our core,” University of La Verne President Devorah Lieberman told volunteers as the day began. “You are standing up tall and proud, living the values that you believe and that the university holds very close and very dear.”

More than 250 students, faculty, staff, and family members gardened, mentored children, and spent time with the elderly at sites around the community. The annual event was organized by the university’s Office of Civic and Community Engagement.

Freshman speech communication major Selaima Tamotuu participated in a “Speed Faithing” project, where volunteers learned about various religious and spiritual beliefs and wrote letters of support to a local mosque.

“It feels so good to see so many people coming out to volunteer,” she said.

The theme of the event – unity and pluralism – is something that can be achieved by working together, senior kinesiology major Matt Rodriguez said.

“It’s a bunch of people with different ethnicities and religions getting together to accomplish a common goal,” he said.

Volunteers had varying opinions on how King would feel about the current state of civil rights and race relations if he was alive today.

With movements such as Black Lives Matter and other groups standing up for human rights, Small Business Development Center Business Manager Fidel Gomez Garcia said the current landscape looks similar to King’s era.

“I think we’re looking at something that resembles what the 60s looked like,” he said.

Heidi Cook, a liberal studies major through the Campus Accelerated Program for Adults, said she thought King would be disappointed with the divisiveness in the country, but coming together for projects such as Day of Service will help.

“(King) was all about people being unified and working together,” Cook said. “If he was alive, we’d be more unified.”