“Everybody can be great because everyone can serve… You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love,” said King in his final sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church.
Milligan emphasizes this message of service by hosting a service weekend to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
MLK Day was oficially declared a holiday in 1983, but was not actually celebrated until 1986, 18 years after King’s assassination.
The holiday was, and somewhat still is, controversial due to hostility from opposing groups. A sculpture of King was whitewashed in Buffalo, New York during the first celebration in 1986, and South Carolina did not recognize the day as a paid holiday until 2000, becoming the last state to do so according to Time Magazine. Today some people still worry that the way we honor MLK does not accurately represent his legacy.
“I am delighted Milligan seeks to honor the legacy of King. I think it’s always important when a predominantly white institution honors King that they do so without domesticating his legacy, and so it’s important that when we honor King that we honor him by doing the things that King did,” said Jason Bembry, professor of Old Testament at Emmanuel Christian Seminary, “and what he did was racial reconciliation work, and so if you want to honor King on MLK day that needs to be a component of what you do to honor him.”
Bembry spoke briefly on the importance of white people recognizing and working on white privilege and white supremacy, encouraging a focus on the racial reconciliation aspect of King’s work. He spoke at the United for Change Unity Walk that took place in downtown Johnson City on MLK Day. Several other Milligan faculty and students were involved in the walk as well.
Dr. Samuel “Kip” Elolia, professor of theology and world Christianity, was honored at the walk for his work in the community. Alyssa Elliott was among the Emmanuel students that participated in the walk. She said she originally found out about the walk because the church she attends was a sponsor for the event, but an Emmanuel professor also sent out an email inviting students to attend.
“The world today is so viciously divisive. The Unity Walk was a tangible opportunity to stand against the divisions and show that there is a different way to live,” said Elliott.
While some students participated in events like The Unity Walk, Milligan also took the time to recognize the holiday as an institution.
The celebration kicked off with the annual Leaders in Christian Service program that honored 12 individuals, declaring them examples of Christian leaders for their various acts of service in the community. The program took place on Jan. 16.
“As we reflect on King’s mission, these individuals offer wonderful examples of what servant leadership can look like in a variety of professions,” said President Bill Greer during the ceremony.
After the program, students took it upon themselves to extend King’s message of service by participating in several service projects during the following weekend.
“(Students) served breakfast at the Melting Pot, built walls for a new house through Habitat for Humanity, packed food for a hunger ministry and repaired tools for Appalachian Service Project,” according to Beth Anderson, director of the institute for servant leadership and director of calling and career exploration.
Several of these activities were facilitated by the school’s athletic teams, further reinforcing the champions of character narrative the school encourages through sports.
All of the men’s sports teams helped pack food at Boones Creek Church, women’s volleyball worked with Habitat for Humanity, and softball helped out at an animal shelter according to Mark Fox, VP for student development and athletics.
Regardless of one’s opinion on how MLK should be honored, it is clear that after 34 years of celebration King’s legacy still continues to inspire individuals and institutions alike to be active as positive influences in their communities.
Headline photo: Milligan athletes help pack food for the Appalachian Service Project. Photo from Milligan’s Instagram account, @milligancollege.