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Courage in the Community: Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Kristina Miller

-Written by Co-Director, Office of Integrity and Belonging Meg Allen 

The Salisbury community honored the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by learning and growing together. We always aim to use Dr. King's work and legacy as a springboard to engage in the critical conversations of our time. The theme for this year's programming stemmed from the word of the year that was chosen by the student body president and vice president: Courage. We wove together Dr. King's commitment to, and instruction about, being courageous in the face of injustice, alongside Salisbury's commitment to being courageous as a community. 

We also focused the day's work on highlighting our project-based learning. This year's MLK Day program featured 65 students presenting 22 different projects, examining an experience, course content, a club, or a school culture through the lens of courage. Students who traveled to San Antonio for the Student Diversity Leadership Conference as well as to Colombia for the GivePower solar panel installation shared about that experience. Students in 20th Century Global Issues and Probability and Statistics paired their course content with courage. Students from the One Love club spoke about courage in relationships, and Student Government examined courage in our community.

After a morning of learning from their peers, students gathered by dorm floor to dive deeper into the work of courage as a community. Using Dr. King's essay "Antidotes to Fear" as a grounding text, student leaders led discussions in which their peers shared openly and honestly about how courage currently functions at Salisbury, and how each of us as individuals can commit to becoming even more courageous. The day capped off with students writing down what they can personally commit to on a note card. They also noted what they will need from peers and faculty to make that happen, as none of us becomes more courageous alone. Those cards became an offering in Chapel at the end of the day and will serve as inspiration for carrying the work forward.