MLK unity celebration to inspire service in the local community

“What are you doing for others?” This year’s 14th-annual Martin Luther King Jr. Unity Celebration’s theme is centered around this, which according to Dr. King is “life’s most persistent and urgent question.”

Mayor D. Michael Collins and University of Toledo Interim President Nagi Naganathan held a press conference Jan. 12 to announce that the celebration will be on Monday, Jan. 19, at 9 a.m. in Savage Arena. According to the press release, both the event and the community luncheon are free. The luncheon will take place after the ceremony.

“The theme for the 2015 Unity Celebration embraces Dr. King’s devotion to serving others,” Naganathan said. “It’s a fitting tribute to the civil rights leader and Nobel Peace Prize recipient that the national day in his honor has become a day of service for all of us to come together and serve our neighbors and our community.”

Collins said the day will be important in showing what the diversity we have in Toledo does for us as a community.

According to the press release, Collins and Naganathan will both be preparing remarks on Monday to accompany a number of other performances.

Performers include the Toledo School for the Art’s Afro-Caribbean Dance and Drum Ensemble, FU5ION, and Madd Poets Society. The recipients of the 2014 MLK Award and the MLK Unity Award will be recognized as well.

“The Toledo community is a more resilient community and it is a very diverse and passionate community,” Collins said. “I think this day will show that there is strength in diversity and that it is realistically what creates our community and defines our community as to what it is. Having said that, I think this should be a way of addressing this on an annualized basis.”

He also said he thinks there are challenges to be addressed regarding diversity and as we progress through them, we will be a stronger country for it.

Naganathan said he believes Martin Luther King Jr. brought a new way of thinking to the people of the United States which has continued to this day.

“Every so often someone challenges us to reach new heights and he challenged people to think of things that were not on people’s radar and he challenged people to think differently and to live life differently. He challenged people to rise to the occasion,” Naganathan said. “That is always an uplifting message.”

He went on to say that when it comes to being good citizens in the community, people need to ask themselves, “What is it that I need to do to make a difference?”

Naganathan said he asks himself the same question when considering his position.

“In my own life, when I walk into my office, I say, ‘Am I making a difference in the life of our students?’” Naganathan said. “That’s my goal and mission that drives me in my office.”

Recently, UT received a classification from the Carnegie Foundation for community engagement. Naganathan said the recognition is an example of UT’s dedication to the community and a reflection of the theme for the day’s event.

“I am proud to say the University of Toledo’s deep commitment to community engagement was recently recognized by one of the nation’s top education foundations. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching recently awarded UT with its 2015 community engagement classification,” Naganathan said. “UT pursued this selective distinction because it aligned so closely with our mission to engage with our city and our region.”