People waiting in line for food inside King Hall outside the lecture hall.
In between enjoying plates of soul food sourced locally from Sacramento, community members worked together to maintain the upkeep of King Hall. (Jose Perez / UC Davis School of Law)

MLK Day: Service in his name

UC Davis School of Law students, faculty and alumni gathered at King Hall for the 5th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service and Celebration to honor the late civil rights leader and garner support for local nonprofits.

“Today, we celebrate Dr. King’s vision,” said Sacramento Superior Court Judge Allison Williams during her keynote address.  

Alum adorns a Martin Luther King Jr. statue with a red flower.
UC Davis alum Pattie Fong, J.D. ’86, cleans up the statue of Dr. King. (Jose Perez / UC Davis School of Law)

Williams shared an inspiring message about the transformative power of service, donation and volunteerism, noting their collective ability to preserve communities, change lives, empower individuals, strengthen communal bonds and promote justice and equality.

The Jan. 15 luncheon featured a group painting project at Woodland’s Fourth & Hope nonprofit, as well as a donation drive for Sacramento’s Wellspring Women’s Center. The UC Davis Black Law Students Association organized the event, in partnership with the MLK Day Working Group and the Office for Student Affairs.

Attendees also celebrated the 5th anniversary of the iconic King Hall mural, which vividly illustrates Martin Luther King Jr. marching alongside supporters, in a touching tribute to his influential 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech. Co-created by Reza Harris ’19, artist Eric Norberg and fellow King Hall students, the mural stands as a visual testament to the transformative progress toward diversity and equity emerging within the legal field through the ambitions of a new generation of change makers, supported by King Hall’s faculty, administration and alumni.