HPU Honors Martin Luther King Jr.’s Legacy Through Day of Service

HIGH POINT, N.C., Jan. 19, 2026 – High Point University students, faculty and staff honored the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. today by volunteering more than 2,000 hours of service and participating in nearly a dozen service projects on campus and around the city of High Point.

The HPU family continued the university’s annual tradition of observing MLK Day as a “day on, not a day off” despite freezing temperatures in the area.

Hundreds of students impacted the lives of thousands of people across the globe through their service. Starting first thing this morning, volunteers took part in a wide variety of service projects, from packing 80,000 meals in the Slane Student Center to repainting five classrooms at the historic High Point Central High School.

A group of HPU students and alumni braved the cold and set up a table full of food outside The Bridge, a community-led initiative located not far from campus, with the goal of serving at least 150 hot meals to community members in need.

In addition, students from the Teresa B. Caine School of Nursing, the Fred Wilson School of Pharmacy and the Congdon School of Health Sciences worked together to provide free health screenings to community members at three locations in the city. They checked vital signs and blood sugar levels, as well as screened patients for hearing, vision and mobility issues.

“Here at High Point University, we really take the time to focus on the needs of the community,” said Kimberly Drye-Dancy, executive director of HPU’s Center for Community Engagement.

A Day On, Not Off

More than 400 students formed assembly lines on the basketball court inside the Slane Student Center to pack thousands of meals that will be shipped to developing countries around the world. Those meals will feed people who are struggling with food insecurity.

Jack Jaramillo, a senior finance and data science major, and Sebastian Sondergaard, a sophomore finance major with a minor in sales, were among the students who wore colorful hairnets while packing meals for Rise Against Hunger.

Jaramillo referred to HPU President Nido Qubein’s inspiration to observe MLK Day “not as a day off, but a day on” for service to others.

“Students are giving back because of all the great experiences and opportunities we’ve been given in our lives,” said Sondergaard, who is originally from Denmark and now lives in San Diego, California. “We want to do this for all the people who are less fortunate than we have been.”

By the end of day, students, staff and faculty packed 80,000 meals, said Dr. Oliver Stoutner, assistant professor of management and director of HPU’s Business Fellows Program. In addition to their desire to give back, he said students have a heart for others and understand the impact of their hard work.

“This is going to folks who struggle with hunger all over the world, not just the local community,” Stoutner said.

Since HPU has partnered with Rise Against Hunger for these meal-packing events, more than 430,000 meals have been provided to families and children in more than 40 countries, said David McQueen, area manager of Rise Against Hunger.

“High Point University is one of our best partners in the region,” said McQueen, whose office is in Charlotte, North Carolina. “This is important because it’s helping hundreds of millions of people worldwide who don’t have food for that day or the next. It’s lifesaving and life-sustaining.”

Students also headed off campus to volunteer for service projects that included revitalizing several local schools and feeding the hungry.

A group of Bonner Leaders gathered at Ferndale Middle School in High Point to freshen up its teachers’ lounge by assembling new furniture and writing thank-you notes for the educators.

Just down the street from Ferndale, around 80 students who serve as Health Science Fellows worked throughout the day to paint five classrooms at High Point Central, which will celebrate its centennial anniversary in 2027.

“It’s really wonderful to know that when students do get back here, they’ll be like ‘Oh my gosh, everything is in mint condition, it’s wonderful, and the people that are just right down the street at High Point University helped us get there,’” said Logan Rouse, an exercise science major from Havre de Grace, Maryland. “They know that they can come to us and work with us and know that we’re there truly to be there for them and assist and make sure that everything is in tip-top condition for them.”

Hector Gomez, an assistant principal at High Point Central, said he greatly appreciated the help from HPU’s students since it can sometimes take months or even years for some of the classrooms at the school to get repainted.

“To have a group of people come to paint five classrooms in one day is huge for the school,” Gomez said. “It’s great.”

At the Macedonia Family Resource Center in High Point, senior Ashley Fierro was among the nursing students who volunteered to provide free health screenings to community members. She checked a man’s blood pressure before escorting him to a group of pharmacy students who were waiting nearby to check his blood sugar.

“Everything is all set in one place and it’s convenient for the patient, because at the end of the day we’re here for the patient, not for us,” said, said Fierro, a High Point native who will graduate in May with her Bachelor of Science in Nursing.

Martin Luther King Jr. Worship Service

Bishop Claude Richard Alexander Jr. urged all the students, staff, faculty and community members who filled Hayworth Chapel for HPU’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Worship Service to take personal responsibility and have agency to make positive changes.

“I want you to understand that what God did in Dr. King’s generation, God is able to do in this generation,” said Alexander, who has served as the senior pastor at The Park Church in Charlotte since 1990. “They did not have the tools that you have. You have all of this technology at your disposal. You have access by God to education they did not have. God says, ‘I can do all things through you.’ Your call for this generation is to exercise your agency. You have power, and God is saying, ‘If you will just let me be who I am in you, you will see me do great and marvelous things.’”

HPU students live out the “a day on, not day off” values intentionally on MLK Day by moving beyond reflection and into action, said Quadir Phillips, president of the HPU Student Government Association.

“HPU students are donating hundreds of hours because we know real change happens when we decide to help,” Phillips said. “We are choosing service, and we want to continue to be the campus that serves.”