Monday march concludes with speeches by Wilbur, others

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Minority Student Services will present a CommUNITY March and Peace Vigil Monday as part of Central Michigan University’s celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Week.

“It’s going to be a great opportunity for the campus to unify and celebrate Dr. King’s dream,” said Lester Booker, interim assistant director of Minority Student Services.

About 300 members of the local community are expected to attend the march and vigil, said Jeanette Smith, MSS administrative secretary.

Booker said the march will be a good way for students to get involved on their day off. The event will begin at 3:30 p.m. in front of the Bovee University Center.

The procession first will circle around campus past all of the residence halls — picking up students as well as faculty — and will continue toward downtown Mount Pleasant, where the peace vigil and other activates are to be held.

“There will be speakers, a choir singing, and a candlelight vigil,” Smith said. “It is a gathering of camaraderie centered around Martin Luther King, Jr.”

King participated in and led many civil rights marches and protests throughout his life, including the Freedom Walk in June 1963 in Detroit, where he led 125,000 people. The largest civil rights demonstration in history was The March on Washington in August 1963, when King made his “I Have a Dream” speech.

“I’m definitely going,” Saginaw sophomore Kayla Howell said. “I feel it’s very important to go and support. Martin Luther King Jr. marched for me, and now it’s my turn to march for him.”

The event is free and open to students and the general public.

Booker said interim University President Kathy Wilbur is expected to speak, as well as Saginaw junior John Ketchum and CMU Police officer Laura Rico.

The Isabella County Transportation Commission will provide transportation back to campus for those who need rides, and Minority Student Services is awarding the residence hall with the most participants $500.