EMU hosted its ninth annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration on Monday, Jan. 19, featuring a series of events honoring the life and legacy of the late civil rights leader.

The theme of this year’s celebration was “Beyond the Dream: Social Justice and Ecological Consciousness,” and it focused on the message of Dr. King’s 1967 Christmas sermon, in which he preached about all life on Earth being interconnected. “Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly,” he said.

Monday’s events began at 9:45 a.m. with a unity march inside the University Commons. About two dozen students, faculty, and staff members held signs calling for peace and justice as they completed three laps around the indoor track. Each year, the unity march pays tribute to the many nonviolent marches led by Dr. King and others during the civil rights movement. 

The group of marchers proceeded to Lehman Auditorium, where members of the Black Student Alliance (BSA) and other students shared quotes from Dr. King and reflected on his legacy during Speak Out. One quote that resonated deeply was: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

Celeste Thomas, director of Multicultural Student Services at EMU and chair of the committee planning the MLK Jr. celebration, said Dr. King imagined a world with community instead of chaos, love instead of hate, and no one going hungry. He imagined a world where families are not separated, where there are no food deserts and everyone has clean water, and where countries don’t bully one another for resources, she added. “Beloved community is sustainability for all mankind,” she said.

Harrisonburg Mayor Deanna Reed, director of alumni engagement and community connections at EMU, spoke about the theme of the day. “Going beyond the dream means understanding justice is not passive,” she said. “It requires participation, it requires responsibility, and that’s where you come in, EMU students. You’re not on the sidelines of this work. You are already shaping the future of communities like Harrisonburg through the choices you make, the careers you pursue, the voices you raise, and the values you carry forward. Don’t just remember him, carry his dream forward.”

Interim President Rev. Dr. Shannon W. Dycus spoke about Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old who was arrested in 1955 for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama, nine months before Rosa Parks did the same. Dycus, who noted that Colvin passed away on Jan. 13, 2026, said the young activist had inspired her for many years. “Both King and Colvin teach us what justice and power look like in necessary ways,” Dycus said. “We gather not out of tradition, not because the calendar tells us to, but because we are committed to taking seriously the work of building equitable, compassionate, and just communities. This is who we are, not just what we do.”

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò, an associate professor of philosophy at Georgetown University and a fellow at the Climate and Community Institute, served as the featured speaker for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Convocation. He is the author of Elite Capture and Reconsidering Reparations, a contributor to Greta Thunberg’s The Climate Book, and a past recipient of a Marguerite Casey Freedom Scholar fellowship. His presentation was titled “Becoming Firefighters: Climate Justice and the Fight for a Free World.”

He examined recent actions taken by the federal administration to seize oil assets in Venezuela and spoke about the political and economic power of fossil fuel companies. “The control those people and their allies have over our entire lives depends on the political power they wield and defend with the money they get destroying our air and water,” he said. 

Following the convocation, a ceremony on Thomas Plaza rededicated the EMU Peace Pole with a vision for peace, justice, and shalom on Earth, including all living things (represented by a new plaque featuring animal prints). The Peace Pole was recently resealed and painted and has newly installed “May Peace Prevail on Earth” plaques. 

Throughout the day, the conference room inside the Student Life Suite transformed into an aromatherapy space, filled with the scents of soap and essential oils. Simone McKelvey, owner of the Simone & Tuesday skincare brand, led two interactive demonstrations, teaching students, faculty, and staff how to create their own soap from scratch using natural ingredients. “Your skin is your largest organ,” she said, “and a lot of the time, we don’t pay attention to what we put on it.”

Participants worked in pairs at eight slow cookers, melting coconut, sunflower, and castor oils, adding lye to distilled water, and mixing the concoction with a stick blender and essential oils to create bars of soap. “When you go to the store and visit the soap aisle, some of them are soap, but some of them aren’t,” McKelvey said. “Some are detergents made with synthetic chemicals. True soap is what you’re making today.”

The sound of knives chopping onions, horseradish, garlic, hot peppers, ginger, and other vegetables reverberated through the Old Common Grounds space on Monday as participants in two interactive workshops sliced and diced fresh, locally sourced, organic ingredients to create their own jars of fire cider. The apple cider vinegar-based tonic supports immunity and digestion and is packed with  antioxidants, antibacterials, and antimicrobials, making it an ideal remedy for the colder months. In about four weeks, the jars can be strained and used to enhance everything from seltzer water and salad dressing to collard greens, pickles, and hot toddies.

The demonstrations were led by the sister-owners of Kinfolk Farm, a Black women-led farm in rural West Virginia dedicated to nourishing the brilliance, creativity, and legacy of Black and Indigenous people of the Global Majority.

Scroll through a photo album of the day below!

Thanks to Multicultural Student Services, Student Life, and the office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for planning the series of meaningful and educational events to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Aram Hanson, an instructor in EMU’s Intensive English Program (IEP), along with two of his IEP students, Dastan and Shalaw, conquered the competition at the 11th annual International Food Festival on Friday with their crowd-favorite Kurdish dishes.

Competing in the event for his first time, Hanson and his students prepared dolma (vegetables stuffed with rice and meat), biryani (a rice and meat dish), chicken tikka (kebabs), kuba (a type of dumpling), baklava and a variety of salads.  

“It seems that many people here liked our food, and that feels great,” he said after being announced as a winner. He added that two of his family members recently opened a restaurant called Kabob Corner on South Main Street in Harrisonburg, and that if people enjoyed his Kurdish food, they would love the dishes served at the restaurant.

For placing first in the individuals and small groups category, the trio of Kurdish cooks received $200 in winnings. A second-place prize of $125 was awarded to Mohammad Khatiri and Ayam Ali, the cheesecake-baking duo behind , and a $100 third-place prize was given to EMU staff member Amina Anwar for her Pakistani biryani.

Since winning last year’s competition, Khatiri and Ali have been busy selling their cheesecakes through their Instagram page and said they plan to launch a website soon. Khatiri said he was glad to be back at the festival for another year. “We enjoy the whole vibe and like trying different types of food from different countries,” he said. 

The winners of the student clubs category received a trophy and bragging rights. They are:

• First place: Asian-Pacific Islander Student Alliance (APISA)
• Second place:  Black Student Alliance (BSA)
• Third place: Latinx Student Alliance (LSA)

A total of 14 teams participated in the competition. Those sampling the dishes could vote on their favorite cuisines through a QR code at each table. 

Hosted by the International Students Organization (ISO) and the International Food Festival Committee, the festival is one of the most anticipated events of the year, drawing hundreds of students, faculty, staff and other EMU community members to celebrate the rich flavors and traditions from around the world. Micah Shristi, director of international student services, said that more than 275 people participated in this year’s festival. He said that students represent 55 countries at EMU.

“A diversity of cultures, languages, and belief systems make our EMU community stronger,” he said. “Nothing demonstrates this more deliciously than the International Food Festival.”

The turnout at the event included many students from other schools who were on campus for the Intercollegiate Peace Fellowship conference held over the weekend. One of those students, Abby Chappell Deckert of Bethel College in Newton, Kansas, said she enjoyed the Pakistani biryani. “I think it’s great,” she said while in line for cheesecake. “It’s really interesting to try food from other countries, and I think it’s a great alternative to the usual everyday ‘caf’ food that people get.” She said that Bethel has a very diverse student body, but does not have a similar food festival of its own.

While EMU juniors Maria Longenecker and Leah Beachy may have disagreed on which cuisine earned their vote (Longenecker favored the Ethiopian dishes while her friend preferred the Kurdish ones), they said they both considered the festival among their favorite events of the year. “That Kurdish food was bussin, and you can quote me on that,” said Beachy, using a slang term for “delicious.”

In between bites, Harrisonburg Vice Mayor Dany Fleming and his wife, Carol, campus visit coordinator for the admissions office, took in the upbeat music and positive energy at the Student Union. “I love the diversity that EMU brings and has brought historically to Harrisonburg,” the vice mayor said. “Part of the reason we are such an international city is specifically and directly because of EMU and the work they do around the world.”

Friday’s event, held at the Orie O. Miller Hall of Nations inside University Commons, also included an announcement from ISO student leaders about seven new flags added to the hall: Belarus, Dominican Republic, Malawi, Mongolia, Puerto Rico, Sudan, and Uruguay. 

“These flags are more than fabric,” said EMU senior and ISO co-President Fiker Yigzaw. “They are a testament to the stories, journeys, and contributions of our international students, past and present. Let’s continue to learn from one another, share in the joy of cultural exchange, and embrace the vibrant global spirit that unites us all.”

Take a look at more photos from the 2025 International Food Festival in our Flickr gallery below:

This story has been updated to reflect the change in venue for the soul food dinner on Thursday, Feb. 15.

Dinner + Theatre

The signature event of Black History Month will feature a dinner and theatre show on Thursday, Feb. 15. 

A soul food dinner will be held in the President’s Reception Room in University Commons starting at 5 p.m. (The same meal will be served in the dining hall for dinner that day). Then, at 6:30 p.m. in Lehman Auditorium, showgoers will be treated to – Vignettes of the Harlem Renaissance performed by the . The music theatre work celebrates three great African American poets: Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen and Claude McKay, as seen through the eyes of renowned painter and muralist Aaron Douglas.

Celeste Thomas, director of multicultural student services at EMU, said patrons can expect to hear jazz from the Harlem Renaissance, a pivotal cultural and artistic movement in the 1920s and ‘30s.

“It will be a night where people can dress up and have a nice meal and go to the performance,” she said.

The artists who make up the Core Ensemble group performing the show are cellist Syneva Colle, EMU Music Program Director and pianist David Berry, percussionist Michael Parola and actor Dracyn Blount.

Berry, who toured with the group for years when he lived in New York City before coming to EMU, said he was excited to help bring them to campus.

“Of Ebony Embers is a powerful one-person show that delves into the lives of several figures from the Harlem Renaissance while capturing the spirit of the era with live music from the time,” said Berry. “Dracyn Blount is a terrific actor and captures the heart of the different artists he portrays beautifully”

Tickets for the combined dinner and theatre show are $30 for faculty, staff and the public and $10 for students. Tickets for the theatre show only are $10 for faculty, staff and the public and free for students.

Tickets can be purchased online by scanning the QR code above through Tuesday, Feb. 13.

In addition to Multicultural Student Services, the event is co-sponsored by the Music Department, Theatre Department and with partial funding from a DEI Inclusive Excellence grant.

Gospel Choir

Just in time for Black History Month, the EMU Gospel Choir is getting a reboot.

The Gospel Choir will makes its debut performance at 8 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 4, during Celebration Student-led Worship in Lehman Auditorium. The group will perform a half-dozen songs and share the history of gospel music. The choir is led by EMU student Mikayla Pettus and will be accompanied by Berry on piano.

The Gospel Choir also will perform a song each for Convocation on Wednesday, Feb. 7 (accompanied by the Rev. Timothy Dorsey), and on Wednesday, Feb. 21 (accompanied by Berry), at 10:10 a.m. in Lehman Auditorium.

Pettus said the Gospel Choir is a diverse set of students, and includes chamber choir members, athletes and people from all types of backgrounds. Some of the members have grown up in a choir, while others have never sung before. 

Part of the reason to bring back the Gospel Choir, she said, was to diversify music for students and for convocations to feature a different type of music.

“A lot of Black students wanted an outlet to sing gospel music songs and have worship in their own way, and we welcome everyone to join and worship with us,” Pettus said.

Washington, D.C., trip

On Wednesday, Feb. 28, the Multicultural Student Services office will sponsor a bus trip to Washington, D.C. 

Those on the trip will visit the:

• National Museum of African American History and Culture;
• Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial;
• Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library;  
• and the National Portrait Gallery, which recently unveiled a portrait of TV star Oprah Winfrey.

All events, except for the D.C. bus tour trip, are open to the public.

For more information, visit or contact Celeste Thomas, director of multicultural student services, at celeste.thomas@emu.edu.

Join ˛ÝÝŽÉçÇř in celebrating Black History Month with a series of events planned by Multicultural Student Services and Black Student Alliance (BSA).

Feb. 8, Feb. 22, Mar. 22, Apr. 5, and Apr. 19, 10:10 a.m. (University Commons) Convocation Breakout Gatherings: Join Multicultural Student Services and the BSA in a space with an emphasis on the Black Experience and building community. If you are interested in learning about the variety of cultures within the African diaspora, this is the breakout session for you! Looking forward to seeing you.

Feb. 9, 7 p.m. (Student Union) Join BSA for a showing of the movie “Woman King” and talkback after. Enjoy half-price beverages from Common Grounds beginning at 8 p.m.!

Feb. 10, 7 p.m. (Student Union) Join BSA for a showing of the movie “Woman King.”

Feb. 15, 10:10 a.m. (Lehman Auditorium) Join the EMU community in celebrating Black History Month with speaker George Johnson ’11, former EMU star athlete and now author. Johnson returns to EMU to share his triumphant story of Double Crossed, which chronicles his journey leading up to, during, and life after his tenure as a Royal. A Q&A will follow the convocation.

George Johnson, 2011 graduate of EMU, is a self-published author, serial entrepreneur, mental health advocate, and father. Born and raised in Northside Richmond, Virginia, Johnson developed a strong passion for basketball and entrepreneurship at a young age. Because of his basketball talents, Johnson was recruited to play at EMU. As point guard, he helped lead the 2010 Royals to the NCAA Division III Elite Eight tournament. Now residing in Houston, Texas, Johnson operates multiple mental health outpatient facilities serving low-income communities throughout Texas and Virginia, along with running other successful businesses. He has endured a number of life-changing experiences, which led him to write Double Crossed, his memoir detailing these challenges and the mental effects of it all.

Feb. 16, 5:15 p.m. (EMU Dining Hall) Enjoy Soul Food Night in the cafeteria!

Feb. 16, 7:00 p.m. (Black Box Theater) After Soul Food Night, join us for Poetry Slam, which includes students from On the Road Collaborative and Harrisonburg High School Black Student Alliance.

Feb. 23, 7 p.m. (University Commons, Room 177 Meeting Room) Black History Month Town Hall (Topic TBD)

Feb. 26, 8 a.m. (depart from the Black Lives Matter mural in front of University Commons) Field trip to the National Museum of African American History & Culture and the Martin Luther King, Jr. monument in Washington, D.C.

Questions? Please contact Celeste Thomas, Director of Multicultural Student Services at celeste.thomas@emu.edu.