Students, faculty and staff at UNA gathered together Friday to celebrate late Civil Rights Activist Martin Luther King, Jr. with a commemorative program and march in remembrance of his life.

Allison Ray, UNA senior and adviser of the Student Multicultural Advisory Committee, organized the annual event. Ray and other SMAC members encouraged audience members to “AIM to change” and to begin advocating, integrating and motivating others about racial awareness.

Ascending Voices, Chinese Student Organization and Chamber Choir performed at the event. Rod Sheppard, president of Florence Freshmen Center, was the keynote speaker at the Martin Luther King, Jr. program.

“We can all be a king, be like (Martin Luther King), and can all make differences with the people we come in contact with,” Sheppard said.

The program ended with a march from the GUC atrium to Baptist Campus Ministries, where attendees sang “We Shall Overcome” as they made their way through campus to pay respect to King and his accomplishments as a Civil Rights leader.

Look for a more in-depth story about the program and march in the Jan. 19 issue of The Flor-Ala.