Penny Patch, who was active in the 1960s with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, a civil rights group, will be the keynote speaker at Johnson State College’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day observance Monday, Jan. 16.
The event, which will include remarks by Johnson State President Elaine Collins and a performance by the Johnson State Chorale, will begin at 11 a.m. at the Dibden Center for the Arts. It’s free and open to the public.
Patch, a longtime nurse midwife, became the first white woman to work on a Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee project in the South in 1962, while she was a student at Swarthmore College.
The King day event reinforces the campus commitment to diversity and inclusion, social justice and community service.
Collins was among the state education and business leaders who signed a statement to affirm Vermont’s commitment to equity, diversity and inclusiveness.
Related initiatives this academic year include the college’s 1% Challenge, which encourages Johnson State students and staff members to commit to donating 1 percent of their average work time — about 10 hours a semester — to community service.
“Understanding diversity is important because our community — on campus, in Johnson, in Vermont, in America — is made up of many histories and perspectives which deserve equal consideration,” said Jeff Bickford, the college’s director of residence life. He co-chairs the campus Diversity Task Force, which is coordinating the King day event with the support of the college’s Office of First-Year Experience.
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