Members of the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee campus community have opportunities this week to participate in events commemorating the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. ahead of the MLK holiday.
Students from the Judy Genshaft Honors College and the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion have partnered on a MLK Day of Service Project to help homeless residents of Manatee and Sarasota counties. Through Thursday, Jan. 12, they are collecting personal care items, such as soap and shampoo, toothpaste and toothbrushes, deodorant, feminine products, sanitizing wipes and water, that that will be distributed via Turning Points in Manatee County and the Salvation Army in Sarasota County.
Items, which should be travel size, can be dropped off in room C-107B or at the main rotunda front desk. Be sure to specify them for the MLK Day of Service. To ask questions, contact Darren Gambrell, associate director of DEI on the Sarasota-Manatee campus, or Cayla Lanier, director of the Honors College on the Sarasota-Manatee campus.
Also on the Sarasota-Manatee campus, the Florida Center for Partnerships in Arts-Integrated teaching (PAInt) is this week is hosting a week-long “teach-in” that is providing the USF community and other educators and teaching artists to discuss arts integration practices based on King’s quotes and speeches, as well as the T.R.U.T.H. Framework to Advance Inclusive and Equitable Pedagogy in Education. The event is modeled on teach-ins that King organized during his career.
“This teach-in is important because it focuses on how to advance Dr. King’s legacy by exploring opportunities that promote his teachings and vision for a better world. The teach-in is a way for participants to connect his message, voice, wisdom and insight,” said Denise Davis-Cotton, director of PAInT.
For more information, contact Davis-Cotton at ddaviscotton@usf.edu.
Other MLK holiday-related events on USF campuses include a brunch on the Tampa campus and a banquet on the St. Petersburg campus. As part of the University Lecture Series on the Tampa campus, Angela Harrelson and Paris Stevens – aunt and cousin of George Floyd – on Wednesday will discuss the importance of social justice and continued activism. A separate panel discussion features diverse perspectives on the differences and similarities between the ideologies and theories of King and Malcolm X.
For more on MLK holiday events at USF, click here.