Pine Manor College

The PMC Community Celebrates Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day & The Presidential Inauguration

The Center Advisory Board and the Student Life Department teamed together to organize a community celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and the Inauguration of Barack Obama. Both groups felt that it was important for our community to mark and make clear the connection between these two events. The celebration on Monday evening, which began by listening to a beautiful rendition of the Black National Anthem, included reggae and hip-hop musical tributes, poetry readings, a moving dance performance, as well as viewings of Dr. MLK Jr.’s final speech and Barack Obama’s acceptance speech on election night. On Tuesday, due to the immense historical meaning of the Inauguration for our community, as well as the world, we took a pause from classes and daily schedules to come together and watch the Inauguration Ceremony in various locations throughout the campus. Woven throughout both days was also an opportunity for all community members to reflect on what they were thinking and feeling by contributing their own thoughts in writing to a “Hall of Inspiration”, where powerful Dr. MLK Jr. and Barack Obama quotes were displayed, along with individual words which captured the essence of both men and their life’s work.