BILLINGS — Montana State University Billings held a bell ringing ceremony Monday morning to honor the late Martin Luther King Jr.
MSUB staff and community members remembered Martin Luther King Jr.'s activism and bravery a half century ago.
However, instead of just honoring King, MSUB is holding events all week long to put the focus on the principles he embodied.
Their theme this year? Voter registration.
A committee of students and faculty came together to create the "Power of One" week to encourage students to vote in the upcoming election.
The goal of the week-long event is to emphasize to the students of MSUB that their voice matters and can have an overwhelming impact on the community.
With the elections coming up this year, this will be many college students' first time voting.
"It's time to make a change for what is not working for us right now. There are things that used to work for us back then, but now it's time for us to see what we want and come together to make that change. It really comes down to voting," said Kyle McLaughlin, a student-athlete at MSUB.
Martin Luther King Jr. believed in the power of one voice, and the students at MSUB have the opportunity this week to educate themselves on the importance of voting.
"Here on campus, we strive to make it known to our students why it's important. We want them to see that they can make a change and we have all sorts of opportunities here on campus and to have their voices heard, and voting does work," said McLaughlin.
The student Resident Advisors will be hosting a Voting Jeopardy night on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Student Union Building, Beartooth Room to help familiarize students about voting registration and other political concerns they may have questions about.
The event will also serve to have students educate one another with their team's combined knowledge on political affairs.
More events will be held throughout the week that students and community members are welcome to attend, including keynote speaker Etan Thomas, a former NBA player for the Washington Wizards .
Thomas will be speaking at MSUB on Wednesday in the Petro Theatre at 7 p.m.
