The Sheldon All-Star Chorus performs under the direction of UMSL alum Maria A. Ellis during the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Observance at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center. (Photos by Derik Holtmann)

Members of the University of Missouri–St. Louis community gathered with neighbors from around the St. Louis region to honor the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center. More than 300 people attended the celebration, which featured several musical performances and a keynote address from Mary Elizabeth Grimes, the president of Marian Middle School, located in the Tower Grove South neighborhood in St. Louis.

UMSL campus photographer Derik Holtmann was on hand to capture images from the annual holiday observance.

Congressman Wesley Bell attended the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Observance and shared his thoughts on the importance King placed and example he set for working for the collective good.

“He believed in the power of people coming together through faith, through education, through service, to bend things in a better direction,” Bell said. “Places like UMSL matter because they’re where that belief gets tested in real life. This campus isn’t about prestige or exclusivity. It’s about access. It’s about people from North County and across the region getting the chance to learn, to train, to build for the future right here at home. And that’s not abstract. You see it in the professions UMSL graduates enter, and you see it in the communities they serve. That idea that opportunity should be rooted where people live is deeply connected to Dr. King’s vision.”

Bethany Worrell, an assistant professor and director of vocal studies in the Department of Music, sang “Hold My Hand Lord While I Run This Race.”

Travis Cummings, an anchor and reporter with KSDK (Channel 5), served as the master of ceremonies.

UMSL recognized (from left) marketing major Ahmad Houston, social work major Mung Sang and education major Meredith Stroud as the latest recipients of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship. Each student has demonstrated a commitment to community service and was selected for the $1,000 award after submitting an essay reflection on “the purpose of education,” which served as the theme for this year’s holiday observance and was inspired by an article written by King in 1947 while attending Morehouse College.

Members of The Sheldon All-Star Chorus performed several songs, including “Non Nobis, Dominae,” during Monday’s celebration.

Grimes delivered her keynote address during the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Observance, reflecting on what King wrote about the purpose of education.

“His writing gives us a glimpse on the meaning of his own life as a thinker, believer, a servant leader, grounded in faith,” Grimes said. “Interestingly enough, even as a college student, King saw through distraction, misdirection and fear-based rhetoric. It’s striking that a young man in his late teens was already wrestling with questions that we’re facing today: What is education for? Who does it serve? And what kind of people does it produce?”

UMSL alum Maria A. Ellis (at right) directs The Sheldon All-Star Chorus and members of the audience in singing “Lift Every Voice and Sing” at the conclusion of Monday’s celebration.