On Monday, Jan. 16, as part of the Georgia Tech Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration, track and field student-athletes participated in the Seventh Annual MLK Day of Service.
Along with approximately 30 students from Tech, the group worked with a local historic organization, the Historic Oakland Foundation, to enhance the appeal of a historic site in Atlanta. The foundation partners with the City of Atlanta to preserve, restore, enhance and share Oakland Cemetery with the public as an important cultural resource.
The students helped preserve the historic site with several garden-related projects including planting, mulching and raking. The Oakland Cemetery is a 48 acre site that draws over 50,000 visitors annually.
“It is one thing to be able to give back to the community, but this particular experience embodies so much more on a day like MLK Day,” said Alex Grady, a senior on the Georgia Tech track and field team. “I am thankful for the ability to serve and humbled by those who have come before me. I was glad to see others today with the same intentions!”
Georgia Tech’s MLK Celebration is a multi-day event on campus, as the celebration includes various educational programs and service opportunities to encourage active participation from the campus and nearby community. A focal point of the celebration, the MLK Day of Service is a campus-wide initiative honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Participants serve in teams and engage in service projects across metro Atlanta. The motto for the day is “A Day On, Not A Day Off.” The Day of Service is organized by Civic Engagement, a unit of the Student Engagement and Division of Student Life department on campus.
