Current News
Four recognized for following in Dr. King´s footsteps
Senior Heather Day´s second grade assignment was to write her own "I Have a Dream" speech.
February 05, 2009
When Senior Heather Day was in second grade, she had a dream.
"My dream is for no wars," she spelled out on extra-wide ruled paper. "For everyone to have a nice good home, and to have at least six toys. And try to not to use guns."
Today, Day's dream hasn't changed much. "It's so important to me that youth of all colors are given the absolute best that life has to offer," she said.
It's that commitment to social justice and racial equality that earned Day the college's Martin Luther King Jr. Service Award recently. She was honored along with Associate Professor of Human Development Sunil Bhatia, Vice President for Administration Ulysses Hammond and Dual Language Arts Academy seventh-grader Taylor Pierce.
The annual award is given to honor those who uphold the legacy of Dr. King's work.
Day, an American studies major and scholar in the college's Holleran Center for Community Action and Public Policy, has focused her efforts on working with children and adolescents through the Southeastern Connecticut Women's Center, as a tutor with the Upward Bound Program and as a trained PeaceJam mentor, facilitating workshops on violence, oppression and peacemaking.
Bhatia, an associate professor of human development and director of the college's Holleran Center for Community Action and Public Policy, was honored for his passionate work to end oppression and discrimination.
"Much like Dr. King, Professor Bhatia's commitment to social justice saturates his life as an educator, scholar and advocate for the needs of marginalized groups," wrote one nominator.
In addition to serving as an adviser, mentor and role model to his students, Bhatia has helped raise $40,000 to build sanitation facilities for the most underserved communities in India through his work with the non-profit organization Shelter Associates.
Hammond, who previously served as chief executive officer of the District of Columbia Courts and was the first African American in the United States to administer an appellate and general jurisdiction court system, was an obvious choice for the award.
As president of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Trust fund and co-founder of the Tutoring for Success/ Preparing Tomorrow's Leaders Today program in New London, Hammond works tirelessly to make it possible for all students to pursue higher education and become community leaders. For his work in the community, both as a volunteer and a leader, Hammond has been awarded numerous community awards, including the 2006 Connecticut Man of the Year Award.
"From the high courts of our land to the wash room in a local soup kitchen, Ulysses Hammond tirelessly works to perpetuate Dr. King's legacy," Tracee Reiser, director of the college's Office of Volunteers for Community Service, said.
Pierce, this year's community member award-winner, launched a peer counseling group at her school when she found a need for such a program and initiated a class trip to a Spanish speaking country to help the student body gain a greater understanding of other cultures.
For media inquiries contact: Amy Martin (860) 439-2526; a.martin@conncoll.edu