With its largest attendance in years, UCA’s annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Prayer Breakfast broke from past traditions by requesting charitable donations to the Bear Essentials Food Pantry to honor King’s legacy.
The breakfast and service took place Friday, Jan. 13, and featured musical selections from students and short sermons from local pastors. Over 200 guests attended, according to uca.edu/news.
Riva Brown, associate professor of public relations, began the service with acknowledgments to King and the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, which had its 110th birthday.
“60 years ago, Dr. King gave his famous address at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom,” Brown said. “Speaking at that March, were a handful of dynamic women committed to service, dedicated women committed to social action and determined women committed to Dr. King’s vision. I’m talking about the daring women of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority.”
In line with the sorority’s philanthropic goals, Brown pointed guests to the QR codes displayed at each table in the room, which allowed them to donate money to the Bear Essentials Food Pantry.
“Your voluntary monetary donation will help the UCA Bear Essentials Food Pantry keep its shelves stocked so our students can study and succeed on full stomachs,” Brown said.
Pastor Odie Phillips of Greater Fellowship Christian Church introduced UCA President Houston Davis and thanked him for being a “culturally competent campus leader — intentional about embracing diversity, belonging, inclusion and equity.”
Davis spoke on the event’s attendance, which, in recent years, had grown smaller due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Davis said, “We always have this on Friday morning for MLK Day; we get together to have this great celebration of MLK and this great celebration of our community, and all that we stand for, and I’m proud.
“I’m very proud of the fact that in January of ‘21 it was a very awkward event, but many of you were still here … Quite frankly, I think this may be the largest crowd that I’ve seen in my six years here.”
Davis acknowledged several attendees, including Conway School Board President Andre Acklin, Conway Mayor Bart Castleberry, Faulkner County Judge Allen Dodson, Franklin Holbrook and Christopher Harvey with Faulkner County NAACP and Central Baptist College President Terry Kimbrow.
Rev. Everette Cornell Maltbia, UCA Board of Trustee member and founder of True Holiness Saints Center, gave calls of action that attendees could take to honor King.
“We keep Dr. King’s dream alive, first of all, by being men and women of integrity — more importantly, by being men and women of strong character,” Maltbia said.
“We’ve got to learn to treat others the way we want to be treated. For his 1964 speech in St. Louis, Missouri. Dr. King stated these words: ‘We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools,’” Maltbia said. “We have to learn as a community how to disagree without being disagreeable.”
Rev. Maltbia’s last pillar of action was being active in the community, of which he gave three examples.
Maltbia said, “One of the first things I think about is paying attention to social issues. You can’t afford to put your head in the sand and pretend like we live in a perfect world. We need to be aware of current events.
“When you find a social issue that you are passionate about, roll up your sleeves and do all you can to make a positive difference. Don’t be just another complainer.”
“Exercising your right to vote is an important way to be active in your community. If we want to keep the dream alive of Dr. King, we’ve got to remember that our vote is our voice,” Maltbia said. “If we’re going to keep the dream alive, we’ve got to vote from the White House to the local school board.”
Brown summarized Maltbia’s speech with four C’s and two V’s — character, courtesy, common sense, community service, vote and volunteer.
In between speeches, three UCA Concert Choir members gave performances, including Mary Rowe, Miss UCA 2022 Nia Kelly and Karriem Shabazz. Professor Julia Buckingham accompanied the singers on piano.
UCA Concert Choir member Mary Rowe delivers a musical performance. Rowe, alongside Miss UCA 2022 Nia Kelly and Karriem Shabazz were accompanied in musical selections by music professor Julia Buckingham.
Brown concluded the service with thanks to the committee that planned the event and members of AmeriCorps for transporting the physical donations to the Bear Essentials Food Pantry.
Bear Essentials accepts monetary donations through UCA.edu/go/foodpantry, and accepts physical donations in the pantry in room 40 of the Physical Plant.
The pantry is open 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, as well as 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday. It is closed on UCA breaks and holidays. Students, faculty and staff must show UCA ID to use the pantry.