Students to Honor Martin Luther King

Westmont students are honoring the late Martin Luther King Jr. with several events on and off campus. Westmont Student Ministries and Intercultural Programs are collecting new or used children’s books for the Neighborhood Clinics as part of the city’s “Honor the Dream, Be Great” Day of Service.

Westmont Intercultural Programs and Religious Studies Department are sponsoring a free celebration of King’s life Wednesday, Jan. 20, at 7 p.m. in Hieronymus Lounge inside Kerrwood Hall. After listening to King’s most well-known sermon, “St. Paul’s Letter to American Christians," special guests Pastor David Moore of New Covenant Worship Center and Pastor Charles Cole of Calvary Chapel will share how King inspires their teaching and leading.

“Although we have seen tremendous progress in the area of race relations in the U.S., especially in the past year with the election of President Obama, there is still much work to do as we consider the ongoing disparities in education, health care, and incarceration,” says Elena Yee, director of intercultural programs. “Martin Luther King Jr.’s commitment to justice and peaceful disobedience was inspired and grounded by his deep faith in Jesus Christ. He believed he was called by God to enter into the fray of the Civil Rights Movement. We should consider his example of courage and fortitude as we seek to alleviate and eradicate poverty, homelessness, human trafficking, gang violence and racism in our nation and world.”