Week of service ends in competition at MLK Charity basketball game
Students, staff, parents and friends gathered hundreds of non-perishable items to donate to the Student Food Pantry as an entrance ticket for the Multicultural Academic Student Services MLK charity basketball game.
At the end of a week of service, the game featured faculty and staff, who wore maroon and gold, against CMU students, wearing black and white. Hidden in the lineup for the faculty and staff was CMU basketball alumna Jewel Cotton (Larkin), who played 97 games with the Chippewas from 2012 to 2017.
Alongside Cotton (Larkin) was her husband, Tony Larkin who also previously played basketball for the Chippewas in 2014. The student team featured returners Malcolm Vinson and Elijah Lewis, but also saw new members including freshman Katherine Himmel.
The game took a slow start but eventually gained momentum when both sides became competitive. Last year, the faculty and staff took the win, but this year the students were looking to take victory holding a close game against the staff.
In the end, the faculty and staff remained victorious again, leading in a 43-36 win. As the event ended, students crowded the floor some participating in dances with each other and taking pictures.
Alfred Harper III, the Assistant Director of MASS could be seen interacting with many students before taking the court himself to help the faculty to victory.
Janay Johnson, graduate assistant with the Center of Student Inclusion and Diversity, on the other hand, led this event in other ways, helping in student engagement and collecting donations from the crowd.
"This is just a fun way to do community work," Johnson said. "Just to kind of bring everyone together and relax on a Friday and celebrate ending the week on a good note."
As for the crowd, MASS raised hundreds of non-perishables and other donations from those who took the stands.
"I think this was good," Johnson said. "It was a lot of people and even started to get a little clogged in seating. Next year hopefully we can have the same turnout."
MASS is asking for additional students and staff to participate in this event next year in hopes of an even bigger turnout. The committee will meet next October to gather players and ask students to be on the lookout for signups.
