Students coming back from the long winter break were welcome to free cake in Café Q as the Black Student Union began their week-long celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.

“Not everyone comes from a background or place where the importance of Martin Luther King or the civil rights movement is prevalent,” said Chavon Webster, senior marketing major and vice president of BSU. “But we feel as if this campus can receive it.”

BSU, a student-run organization at Quinnipiac committed to spreading awareness of black history, has a variety of events showcasing important civil rights events and recognizing Martin Luther King Jr.’s importance in American history.

“We are just hoping we can get the support of the campus,” Webster said. “It’s a lot of hard work putting on these events, but a lot of the information we’re giving out is very important to us and it’s something we want the university to embrace.”

On Tuesday, BSU presented “Selma, Lord, Selma,” the classic Disney film portraying a young African-American girl’s perspective of Martin Luther King Jr.’s speeches.

The group is holding a boycott of the shuttle system at Quinnipiac, staging a mock version of the Montgomery bus boycott during the civil rights movement in 1955.

“If a lot of students rely on the shuttle system and you have a day where you don’t have access to it, imagine doing that for a year,” Webster said.

Other events this week include a simulated march in the Student Center with mock picket signs and an event asking students what they would go to jail for, in light of the sacrifices made by prominent civil rights activists.

Photo credit: Amanda Shulman