A diverse group processed from the community gathering in Harry C. Moores Campus Center to convocation in Mees Hall on a mild January morning. Among them were college students, a fourth-grader, preschoolers, academicians, a university president, a city councilwoman, even the leader of a global missions and relief organization.
Their positions didn’t matter; only their purpose. And that was reinforced by the words of the man they came to commemorate, read aloud by students positioned along the path they processed. Quiet, reflective, and inspiring, it was a fitting introduction to Capital University’s annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Learning, held Monday, January 16.
Just as it has for more than two decades, the Day of Learning attracted people from nearby and far away. Young and old, carefully coiffed or just out of bed, they packed into a noticeably full Mees Hall, where they were wowed by fourth-grader De’Anna Walker, City of Columbus 2012 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Youth Oratorical Contest (intermediate division) winner. They were lifted up by Chapel Choir’s Come to the Water, Lift Every Voice and Sing, and I Can Tell The World. And they were challenged by keynote speaker, the Rev. Dr. David Immanuel Goatley, to serve the Beloved Community by living a life that matters, by impacting others, and by redefining success as significance.
“What might happen if you define success not by what you accumulate, but by how many people you empower,” Goatley asked. “If you define success not by how much you consume, but by how much you contribute to improve life for the most vulnerable. If you define it not by how many people report to you, but by how many people you can equip for meaningful lives.”
Following convocation, a day of outreach, community engagement and service unfolded. In standing-room-only workshops, learners took on complex topics designed to unveil the modern-day relevance of the principles and causes King championed. Capital students, faculty and staff joined with members of the broader community to explore through workshops, music, interactive children’s activities and conversation:
- Civil rights and other issues impacting Columbus’s largest immigrant and refugee populations,
- Persistent challenges of homelessness, domestic violence and poverty,
- Short and long-term implications of newly passed voting restrictions,
- Ongoing civil and human rights movements and their reflection of the Beloved Community in the 21st century,
- Black male achievement in higher education, and more.
Presenters included Capital’s own Justin Poole, president of PRIDE; Eric Paton, assistant professor of music; Dr. Tobie Sanders, professor of education; Dr. Carolyn Osborne, education instructor; and Dr. Eva George, assistant professor of history; as well as former Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner and representatives from more than a dozen social service, cultural, advocacy and education organizations. 
In Ruff Memorial Learning Center, Sanders and Osborne presented Free to Learn: A Interactive Children’s Workshop. Based on an early childhood education course they teach to early education majors and intervention specialists, Sanders and Osborne combined the power of art, music, movement and drama to explore with school-aged children and their parents concepts such as democracy, civil rights, peaceful resistance and demonstrations, and barriers to learning.
“Picket line,” Sanders said, transitioning into a conversation about the power even small groups of people have to effect change, “that’s where people go to say ‘we don’t like what you’re doing.’”
Reinforcing the concept, Sanders and Osborne sang a verse from the old civil rights song If You Miss Me from the Back of the Bus, which begged an important question given their audience.
If you miss me on the picket line, and you can’t find me nowhere, they sang. Come on over to the city jail. I’ll be rooming over there.
“Is that scary — jail?” Sanders prompted.
“That’s a good question,” Osborne answered. “It can be scary. But some people think it’s scarier not to stand up for what they believe in.”
Next door in Troutman Hall, Dr. Eva George used images and videos of recent civil rights and social justice campaigns, including the Occupy Movement, the STARS Campaign, and the I am Troy Davis Movement, to illustrate three ideals of King’s Beloved Community:
- Integration, not just desegregation
- All life is interrelated
- End of economic injustice
Participants were directed to write down an action step on a slip of paper George provided — an “I will” statement — they would complete to help move American society toward the Beloved Community. Closing her workshop, George asked, “What will you do to move society toward the Beloved Community?”
“The difference between people who have and who don’t have is getting bigger and bigger,” said William Sands, of Columbus, who has been attending Capital’s MLK Day of Learning for several years. “I believe in the next few years, that’s going to be the key issue. And there are many ways you can helps someone improve their economic situation.”
Essie W. Cannon, who has come to think of Capital’s Day of Learning as a day of inspiration, urged everyone to talk to their representatives in congress.
“There are so many things you can do to make a difference,” she said. “But if you’re not talking to your congressman, you’re crazy.”
“For me, it’s about becoming knowledgeable,” said Capital student Jamie Veals. “And sharing that knowledge.”
Complementing the recurring push to empower people to act was an afternoon service component. Hundreds of volunteers reported to turn in nonperishable food items that had been collected across campus and to help assemble disaster preparedness kits for the American Red Cross. More than 164 volunteers assembled 220 kits, and more than 1,000 food items were donated to the Mid-Ohio Food Bank.