Oxford College Marks MLK Day With Service Project and Community Event
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is often observed as a national holiday. However, instead of taking the day off, 66 Oxford College students spent this year's MLK Day of Service volunteering at six community projects.
“When I think of a day on for our students, I think of having them do something active—physically active—with our community partners that’s going to have an impact right here in our local community,” said Megan Hulgan, Director of Student Civic & Community Engagement.
The service projects were intentionally designed to be active, accessible, and collaborative, mirroring the values at the core of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s work. This year’s projects offered something for just about everyone. Some worked outdoors with Keep Newton Beautiful, Cousins Middle School, and The City of Oxford Sustainability Committee to restore natural spaces in the community, while others organized donations at the Salvation Army, created over 350 period packs for local middle school students, and built composting tumblers to distribute to members of the community with Sustainable Newton.
Despite the variety of projects, each site reflected a shared focus on working together to meet local needs. “I always like to pick partners that we have an ongoing relationship with, so if MLK Day of Service is the first time that a student has ever volunteered with us, there is automatically a pipeline for them to volunteer with this organization again,” says Hulgan. “We want to make sure we're tapping into all those interest areas that our students may have.”
After a morning of service, students gathered once more, this time not to work, but to reflect. Over lunch, students shared observations from their service sites and considered how their individual efforts could shape their futures.
"Doing service in one’s community is a transformative practice. It is transformative for our internal community as Oxford students, and it's transformative for our external community.”
In a 1967 speech, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. emphasized that “everybody can be great, because everybody can serve,” a belief that resonated with students as they connected their work to the purpose of MLK Day as a call to action rather than a commemoration. On January 21, the campus came together once more at Old Church to honor Dr. King’s legacy. This year’s keynote speaker was the Rev. Dr. Robert Franklin, the James T. and Berta R. Laney Chair in Moral Leadership at Candler School of Theology and former president of Morehouse College and the Interdenominational Theological Center.
Oxford College’s Soul Collective, Oxappella, and the MLK Interdenominational Choir filled the space with uplifting music, alongside remarks from Interim Dean Molly McGehee, Oxford students, and Chaplain Brent Huckaby. Together, the celebration served as a powerful reminder that Dr. King’s work is not confined to history but lives on through service, compassion, and moral courage.
"In a world that still experiences injustice and oppression, attendees were reminded to use their education and gifts to care for others as we make the world a more loving and peaceful place.”
