Volume V Issue IV
BY ALEJANDRA SANTAMARIA
Staff Writer
On January 19, as the first Afri-
can American president of the
United States, Barack Hussein
Obama, prepared himself to take
office in less than 24 hours, Penn
State Mont Alto celebrated Martin
Luther King Jr.’s birthday.
The event, “A tribute to MLK
Jr.” focused on diversity, respect
for one another, and being you,
was opened to students, faculty and
staff, and community members.
The tribute was organized by the
Black and Latino Association
(BALA), an active student organi-
zation .on campus that gets to put
together a tribute to MLK Jr. every
year.
Stan Pearson II, introduced by
BALA representatives Sophomore
Jeremy Jones and Sophomore Ale-
jandra Santamaria, was the guest
speaker of the night. Pearson, origi-
nally from Chicago, Illinois, is a
member of the Alpha Phi Alpha
Inc., and is fluent in Spanish. He
has been speaking about diversity
since 2002, and he has given pres-
entations not only around the US,
but also in countries such as Mex-
ico and Spain.
As part of his keynote “just
because I am, doesn’t mean that
I’m...” he shared with the audience
personal experiences and opinions
about what diversity meant to him.
“Diversity is ‘knowing that
words don’t make perception real-
ity, and I want to educate people on
that. I speak for words unspoken
and thoughts without illustration,”
Pearson said.
The attendees got to participate
and express their own thoughts on
the different topics that were
brought up such as culture, race,
religion, and sexual orientation.
doesn’t mean I don’t struggle like
everyone else,”
older doesn’t mean I don’t like rap
am uneducated,” were some of the
several people in the audience.
Pearson made the audience
comfortable enough not to be
afraid that after they expressed
what we felt, someone in the audi-
ence might laugh at what they just
said. He encouraged the attendees
to respect each other, and to under-
stand that not everyone has the
same opinion. Through his words
he “hit home” as Sophomore Kevin
Irvin put it. He made the audience
remember personal experiences
that shocked them, that changed
them in one way or another. “I am
sure everyone has gone through
something that left you speechless.
In that moment of your life, you
couldn’t laugh, you couldn’t cry,
you were just stuck,” Pearson said.
Some students were put on the
spotlight, and some were really
comfortable and open-minded.
“I loved it. It made me focus
more in depth about other people’s
cultures and expanded my knowl-
edge on diversity,” said Sophomore
Matt Yearwood, and Senior Jon
Lewis thought it was “deep and
inspiring.” :
Stan Pearson the II touched the
audience that night one way or an-
other. Whether his speech made
them understand themselves a little
Submitted by Alejandra Santamaria
bit more, or it made them appreci-
ate about cultures outside of their
community, it made us “a little bit
better today than we were yester-
day,” as he said.
To end the night, Pearson
taught what he calls “Salsa 101,” a
really basic salsa lesson, where
everyone who wanted to learn
about this Spanish dance, got to
interact more up-close with the
guest speaker. “I loved the way he
interacted with us. It was really
fun,” Freshman Ashleigh Hector
said.
Overall, the program was ener-
gizing, entertaining, and enlighten-
ing. It opened the audience’s eyes
in many different ways. It was a
positive, engaging experience for
everyone who attended the event,
and this quote by Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. should enlighten your soul
and bring the message of the trib-
ute to life, “We must learn to live
together as brothers or perish to-
gether as fool.”
tor at Mont Alto?
BY SHARIYF GOLDSTEIN
Staff Writer
On February 3, Eric Wagner
shared with the class a speech a
significant event in his life, and the
most interesting part was his Elvis
Presley impersonation. During his
speech, he also shared how Presley
was one of his favorite idols of all
time. He even did his own rendi-
tion of “Hound Dog.”
When asked if he had done any
types of shows Wagner said he has
preformed on television, telethons,
schools, as well as church func-
tions. He also said he started in the
seventh grade when he was about
12 years old. In high school, he
was such a huge Presley fan that he
would wear his hair and sideburns
just like “the king.” As a kid, he
would dress up as Presley for Hal-
loween and other special occa-
sions.
Wagner’s top two favorite
songs include “Can’t Help Falling
In Love” and “All Shook Up.” His
favorite movies of Presley include
“Loving You and Blue
Hawaii.” Lastly, when
asked - if Elvis
Were 4u here
today
w h at
would he
say to him,
replied “1
would be
speech-