UCA hosts activities throughout county
The University of Central Arkansas Division of Outreach and Community Engagement and partner AmeriCorps sites will host volunteer activities and dialogue events in honor of the 27th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service and 6th annual National Day of Racial Healing.
Projects are led by AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps VISTA members serving through UCA’s national service programs in collaboration with partner sites. Community members interested in taking part in these events can visit MLK 2022 to learn more and register for volunteer and dialogue opportunities.
Information on events can be found below.
Conway Conversations: National Day of Racial Healing
Tuesday, Jan. 18, 5:30-7 p.m. on Zoom
Register Here
Conway Conversations joins other organizations and communities around Arkansas and the nation in commemorating the National Day of Racial Healing by hosting a panel of UCA faculty and staff who will also host interactive small group discussions. The 30-minute panel discussion will be focused on the topic of Revisiting Broken Systems. The panel will be followed by one hour of small group dialogue.
Panelists and small group discussions are listed below:
Kristy Carter, “Fixing Broken Entrepreneurial Ecosystems for Women of Color”
Taine Duncan, “CRT and Critical Theories of Race: How Political Philosophy Can Help Us Identify and Resolve Structural Inequities”
Marsha Massey, “Confronting Bias in STEM Education: Reflections of a Black Chemist”
Conway Art Walk: Racial Healing through the Arts
Thursday, Jan. 20, 5-8 pm at UCA Downtown
UCA Downtown Volunteer registration
Conway Art Walk General Volunteer registration
The Division of Outreach and Community Engagement will offer make-and-take art journal and button-making activities on the theme of racial healing through the arts, alongside a gallery exhibit on the ART of Words curated by Students for the Arts and SLANT. Visitors of all ages will be encouraged to use the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. to create their journals and inspire ongoing reflection.
Volunteers are needed at UCA Downtown to assist with set up, facilitate arts activities and assist in cleaning up. Additional volunteers are needed for various roles at the Conway Art Walk event throughout downtown Conway. The Conway Art Walk is a free monthly event offering art demonstrations, live music, shopping, drinks and food.
The Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service and the National Day of Racial Healing constitute a defining moment each year when Americans across the country step up to make communities more equitable, support racial equity initiatives, expand civic opportunities, and foster respect for individual differences. Citizens here in Arkansas and across the country take action to create the beloved community of Dr. King’s dream. Funding for UCA’s MLK Day of Service activities is provided by EngageAR, the Governor’s Commission on National Service and Volunteerism which promotes civic engagement. National Day of Racial Healing events in Arkansas are planned in coordination with other education institutions, nonprofits and communities across the state, including the Arkansas Peace and Justice Memorial Movement.
Additional information is available by contacting Lesley Graybeal in the UCA Division of Outreach and Community Engagement at lgraybeal@uca.edu or (501) 852-7416.
About EngageAR – Arkansas Service Commission
EngageAR serves as the state service commission whose mission is to foster a culture of service to strengthen communities and solve local problems. Civic engagement encompasses service and volunteerism and is foundational to establishing a collaborative programmatic initiative to create a culture of service in Arkansas that permeates activities of family, education, business, government and the nonprofit.
EngageAR partners to provide training, consultation and best practices to equip state agencies, county government, municipalities and private organizations to develop, launch and maintain civic engagement programs, including AmeriCorps programs. For more information on civic engagement, or to find out more about Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, visit https://www.volunteerar.org/MLK-Day-Of-Service.
