Georgia Perimeter College is held in high community esteem not only because it hosts the largest Martin Luther King Jr. celebration in the southeast. It is also the quintessential institution of higher learning in Georgia that exemplifies what the civil rights legend envisioned as a more culturally harmonious society.
Yet, the GPC pays Dr. King the ultimate compliment and honor in another invaluable way: through continual dedicated service to others. Barbara Obrentz, the six-year chairperson of the Martin Luther King Jr. birthday celebration, talked about how GPC established the Center for Civic Engagement and Service Learning, which will have its formal grand opening on Feb. 15.
“That is an organization within the college that’s going to encourage volunteerism, civic engagement, which is bringing learning from the classroom into the community and then coming back to the classroom and reflecting on what you learned when you went out into the community to apply what you learned,” she says of the program’s inaugural year. “So it’s a very interesting program. We’re doing a year of service. We have 650 volunteers that have signed up to go to 17 locations on MLK’s day of service. That’s another way of connecting with the community.”
With the MLK celebration, Obrentz and GPC bring in august speakers to share their stories and what King meant to them. This year, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, Rita Dove, who penned the provocative poetry book, “On the Bus with Rosa Parks,” will speak. Every year Obrentz and GPC’s MLK celebrations pack a powerful punch that has included Honorable Georgia Congressman John Lewis, iconic poet Maya Angelou, actors Ben Vereen, Phylicia Rashad, Danny Glover and director Spike Lee.
“It’s an educational experience as well, not just community involvement. It tremendously follows our mission in engaging our community in what we do and give to them,” Obrentz says.
Obrentz says she has also been touched on a personal level from coming in contact with such transcendent figures.
“For me it’s a personal experience. It’s a personal journey about what they think. It’s not just what they write about and what they speak about. I get to spend a day with them. And I would never have had an opportunity to do that were I not in this position for bringing them,” Obrentz added. “It’s getting to know the real person behind the name.” –terry shropshire
Barbara Obrentz pictured third from left in photo above.
To learn more about Georgia Perimeter College’s MLK celebration and Black History Month activities, log on to www.gpc.edu/mlk.
