On Jan. 17, the University of Redlands hosted an all-campus Peace Walk to commemorate the work and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This event marked the first of several intended to invite students to reflect on the 2023 theme for MLK Week: \u201cThe Time is Always Right to Do What is Right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Students, staff, and faculty gathered on the quad in front of the Memorial Chapel Tuesday morning to listen to several speakers before beginning their walk in solidarity. The first key-note speaker of the morning was alumna Maggie Roupp, who currently serves as the Operation Specialist for the Johnson Center.<\/p>\n
Roupp began her speech by reminding the participants that they are gathered on the quad to continue King\u2019s legacy of hope. She spoke briefly about King\u2019s legacy, highlighting that despite dedicating his life to the fight for racial equality, the Civil Rights Act passed following his death. She quoted King, stating that in his eyes, genuine equality is defined as \u201cconnection to and love for all humankind.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roupp closed her speech by asking the audience to reflect on two questions: \u201cHow can we help time not become an ally of the forces of stagnation? How can we use time to create a new future that reflects genuine progress?\u201d<\/p>\n
The answer?<\/p>\n
\u201cShow up for a cause, support the voices of others, and make your own voice heard.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTogether we can help time be a tool for good,\u201d Roupp concluded.<\/p>\n
Following these opening remarks, President Krista Newkirk stepped forward to address the growing crowd forming in front of the chapel. Newkirk began her speech with a question: \u201cHow do we make time an ally to positive university change?\u201d<\/p>\n
She went on to discuss King\u2019s legacy emphasizing the importance of the work he did during his lifetime and the growing support of his legacy in the modern age. Newkirk then asked the crowd to consider, however, how King was perceived in 1968: During his lifetime, 75 percent of Americans did not support King or his message.<\/p>\n
So how did King \u201cmove forward when facing such adversity?\u201d Newkirk asked. He had a vision to create \u201ca place of equity where all dreams can be realized.\u201d<\/p>\n
Newkirk went on to remind the audience that King would have been 94 this year. The challenges he faced are not distant; they are still with us today.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are too quick to dismiss the struggle as history,\u201d she stated.<\/p>\n
Given this continuing social issue, what can we as an institution do? Newkirk commented that the first step is to speak about the issue open and honestly. She reminded the audience that the university made a statement in November 2020 that it does not condone racism in any form.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut a statement is not enough,\u201d Newkirk continued. She went on to say that the university has formed an anti-racism committee. \u201cBut a committee is not enough,\u201d Newkirk stated, \u201cbut the call to action is.\u201d Newkirk reminded the university community that we need to come together to stand up against racism.<\/p>\n
Newkirk concluded by quoting King himself, \u201cThe time is always right to do what is right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following President Newkirk\u2019s speech, Renee Van Vechten, a professor in the Political Science Department, introduced her students. Each student came forward to recite a line from one of five speeches given by King during his lifetime.<\/p>\n
Some of the quotes recited are included below:<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is something in the soil that cries out for freedom.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe must meet hate with love.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n \u201cLet us be dissatisfied until the day when nobody will shout white power nobody with shout black power but we will shout human power.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cFreedom is not given by the oppressor, it must be taken by the oppressed.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIt is non-violence or it is non-existence.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n Following Professor Van Vechten\u2019s class, the Chapel singers were invited to present an offering. Gatherers became silent as they listened to the voices ringing through the quad.<\/p>\n At the conclusion of the Chapel singers presentation, the participants were invited to begin the Peace Walk across campus to Hunsaker Plaza. There, they engaged in several songs and chants to commemorate King\u2019s message.<\/p>\n Photo by Section Editor Kirsten Marsteller.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On Jan. 17, the University of Redlands hosted an all-campus Peace Walk to commemorate the work and legacy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":541,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[143,142,141],"class_list":["post-305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-martin-luther-king-jr","tag-mlk-week","tag-peace-walk"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theredlandsbulldog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/MLK-Peace-Walk-2023-by-Kirsten-Marsteller.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theredlandsbulldog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theredlandsbulldog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theredlandsbulldog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theredlandsbulldog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theredlandsbulldog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/theredlandsbulldog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":547,"href":"https:\/\/theredlandsbulldog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305\/revisions\/547"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theredlandsbulldog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theredlandsbulldog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theredlandsbulldog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theredlandsbulldog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}