Over 1,000 students show up for Day of Service

Mayor Sam Adams and Portland State President Wim Wiewel welcomed nearly 1,100 students from eight college campuses across Oregon yesterday for the Martin Luther King Day of Service.

The students convened in the Stott Center before heading off to their respective service projects, which included removing graffiti with the North/Northeast Business Association and cleaning the Hollywood Theater.

“These are extraordinarily challenging times for this country and even this city,” Wiewel said, adding that in last year’s Coalition of Communities of Color report, Multnomah County has “unsettling” disparities between its minority and white residents. 

In addition, Adams thanked the crowd for their “willingness to serve,” and quoted a famous sermon of King’s.

“‘Anyone can be great because anyone can serve,'” he said.

“The services you do today are going to have long-lasting effects.”