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This video featuring civil rights leaders Congressman John Lewis, Rev. Joseph Lowery, and Ruby Bridges “reminds us to keep Dr. King's legacy alive and to make service a part of our daily lives.”

Produced by the Corporation for National and Community Service.

Community Service for the Common Good

A “day on, not a day off.” That’s the spark for the UMN Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Service Volunteer Pledge Drive, which promotes new opportunities for faculty, staff, and students to work with neighbors on behalf of our communities. 

Spanning a semester—not just a day—this pilot project on the Twin Cities campus (with a parallel drive on the Rochester campus) honors the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. while also advancing the University of Minnesota’s mission of public engagement for the common good.

The drive was inspired by the national MLK Day of Service of the Corporation for National and Community Service. Besides mobilizing people to serve, the pilot also aims to capture through the voluntary “Take the Pledge” page an exciting snapshot of the community volunteer hours that UMN faculty, staff, and students contribute each year.

This pilot project on the Twin Cities and Rochester campuses may pave the way for a larger, system-wide service pledge drive. In addition to bringing people together to address community needs, community service strengthens the University’s public engagement agenda as a way of advancing outstanding scholarship, preparing educated and engaged citizens, and strengthening democratic values and civic responsibility.