January 10, 2005
The Hesston College campus community
will focus on social action and change January 16-18.
The all-college social action
event titled "Peacing It Together" is being planned by a
committee of four faculty members and two students in conjunction
with Martin Luther King Jr. Day Monday, January 17.
Committee chair Tony Brown, artist-in-residence
and part-time professor in the college's sociology and history departments,
said the purpose of the three-day event is "an effort to get
the campus community to focus on an issue together," he said.
"Since January 17 is a national holiday, we felt the college
community should stop and reflect on the life and teachings of Dr.
King, who was a significant person in our country's history.
"We'll look at King's global
vision, philosophy, and methods of nonviolent social change,"
he said. "We'll also examine how we can become agents of peace
and reconciliation where we can, which is congruent with what Mennonites
believe."
Several activities are planned
during the three-day event. The Sunday evening and Monday morning
activities will be held in the sanctuary of Hesston Mennonite Church
and are open to the public.
Featured Sunday evening, January
16, at 8 p.m. will be Dick Davis, who will speak on the connections
between Dr. King's life and teachings and the core convictions of
Mennonites. Davis, pastor of Peace Mennonite Church, Dallas, Texas,
serves as chair of the Peace and Justice Network of Mennonite Church
USA. He is a past board member of the Dallas Peace Center.
During 11 a.m. chapel Monday,
January 17, Palmer Becker, director of the college's Pastoral Ministries
program, will present action steps for social change. In addition,
a video of Newton elementary school children reciting parts of King's
"I Have a Dream" speech will be shown.
That evening, faculty and students
will participate in a Social Change Fine Arts Festival, featuring
original arts and creative presentations that celebrate diversity,
justice, social change, and peace.
Then during lunch Tuesday, faculty
and students will engage in roundtable discussions about issues and
strategies for social change. Resource people from the college and
community will guide those discussions.
Brown says faculty have also been
encouraged to integrate the topics of social change and social action
as much as possible in their classes Monday and Tuesday.