Dakota Phillips

Finney Mcom 202

1/19/17
MLK Day Keynote Speech

During his keynote address at the colleges annual Martin Luther King,
Jr. Day celebration, Emory & Henrys John Holloway, the new vice-president
of student life and student success and dean of inclusion, called for change
in the Emory & Henry community.
Though Holloway has only been in his new position at Emory & Henry
for fifteen days, he plans on not wasting any time. In his speech, he used this
past years election to highlight and exemplify problems of divisions in our
country.
Some areas of divisions he mentioned include: homophobia, racism,
sexism and even socioeconomic status. Holloway believes we live in a
society where we do not talk about these sensitive topics, and he wants to
plant seeds of change to counter attack the issues of division that the
election has brought back to life. He proposed a solution to address these
issues, a plan which he calls the Intergroup Dialogue Project, IDP.
The concept of IDP was created in the late 1980s at the University of
Michigan to help students prepare to succeed in a diverse world by teaching
them intergroup relations skills through the sharing of personal stories. This
peer-led social justice program bridges divisions through the common bond
of sharing in personal struggles and experiences.
Holloways goal for this project is to gather all types of student of
different races, genders and religion to debate alongside with facility
members, to determine what kind of plans would best produce change and
impact this campus for the better.
 Safa Farhoumand, a student at Emory & Henry and the secretary of
multi-cultural affairs, has been on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day planning
committee ever since he was a freshman. Along with students and faculty,
Farhoumand planned the breakout sessions during Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
Farhoumand also personally planned the interfaith prayer service. The
planning committee wanted the theme to be A Welcome Home.
I think it is a very doable project, said Farhoumand. Along with many
other Emory & Henry students inspired by the keynote address, Farhoumand
plans on helping Holloways project move forward to help the college break
down the walls of division through sharing of personal stories and building
friendships.