ACC honors MLK Day with march, awards

This year's Martin Luther King Jr. Youth Legacy Awards were held at Eastview campus for the first time. In the past, the ceremony took place in several locations, including St. Edwards University and Huston-Tillotson University. The Legacy Awards took place on Sunday, Jan. 16 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Huston- Tillotson's Jazz Ensemble Band, which played a varied set of songs including "Girl from Ipanema," and "These are a Few of My Favorite Things" provided entertainment for the reception.

Dr. Joni Jones, director of the Warfield Center for African-American Studies at the University of Texas, emceed the Awards Ceremony.

Dr. Kathleen Christensen, Vice President of Student Support and Success Systems of ACC, said "higher education is worth the struggle. It has the best rate of return. Once you have it, it does not depreciate. According to the College Board Statistics, those who have their G.E.D. earn about $31,000 a year, their associates about $39,000 a year and their Bachelors, generally, $56,000 a year." Aside from the monetary incentives, she also said "there is nothing more satisfying than personal accomplishment."

Dr. Jones informed the audience that this ceremony honoring MLK has been around for the last 16 years, and that despite Dr. King's recognition for his commitment to African-Americans, he also had a "strong commitment to everyone with his principles." Along with his involvement with the Civil Rights Movement, Dr. King was also a strong anti-war advocate and supporter for environmental concerns.

Sydney Barber, a tenth grader from McCallum High School, provided entertainment midway through the ceremony by performing one of Mozart's pieces.

Before handing the mike over to Dr. Richard Reddick, the guest speaker for the night, Dr. Jones, said that "too often we hear stories of youth in Austin that are not uplifting." However, she said that this was not the case for the nominees up for the scholarship awards whose determination, drive, and focus were "something that some adults never acquire."

Dr. Richard Reddick, assistant professor at the University of Texas, is "a proud graduate of Johnston High School." In his speech, he focused heavily on the positive influence mentoring has on youth, noting that Jan is National Mentoring Month. He mentioned his own mentor at Harvard, Benjamin Mays, who went to school at Moorehouse with Martin Luther King Jr. He also mentioned that the first role Michelle Obama had with Barack Obama was as his mentor when he first came into their law firm.

There were 73 nominees for the 13 different scholarship awards including such categories as Best Athlete (male and female), Beating the Odds, and Academic Excellence and Community Service. R.J. Vaughn, a junior at Hendrickson High School who won the Youth Humanitarian Award said, "I was actually pretty humbled."

After the students received the awards, a closing message was read from the office of Lloyd Doggett. "If all Martin Luther King had done was dream, we wouldn't show up. When MLK rallied the nation for civil rights, he fought not just for them. When we embrace the dream, we renew his commitment to the dream."

Loretta Edelen, Director of Community Outreach for ACC said, "I hope that participants will observe the use of their taxpaying dollars at work in the community at our Eastview Campus and hopefully inspire them to strive for achieving higher education. I also hope that they will be inspired by the actions of our youth, motivated to reach their highest goals, and reminded that good work is recognized and rewarded."