We encourage everyone to make Martin Luther King Jr. Day as more than just a day off for some.

Locally, Northern Michigan University will honor MLK Jr.’s legacy by hosting events on Monday, which are are free and open to the public. Masks are required at NMU.

Students, staff and community members participating in a march for equality will gather in a socially distanced group at noon Monday in front of Forest Roberts Theatre.

The group will then travel on foot to the Lodge in the Woods Complex for a 12:30 p.m. keynote address. Participants also will complete service projects planned by the Center for Student Enrichment.

A lunch of pizza and snacks will follow.

Featured keynote speaker Darnishia Slade of Michigan Tech’s Pavlis Honors College will address the group at 12:30 p.m. at the Lodge. Slade will talk about the excellence exhibited by black students attending rural universities, especially in the Upper Peninsula.

Slade won the inaugural Bayard Rustin Award at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. banquet in January 2019 presented by the National Society of Black Engineers.

The service projects will include writing letters to residents of the Jacobetti Home for Veterans as well as making placemats and valentines for the veterans. Other services include making fleece blankets for the local women’s shelter and masks for the Room at the Inn homeless shelter.

Projects hosted at the Lodge with exception of the fleece blankets, can be taken to private locations such as dorms for students who are not comfortable staying in the Lodge.

Take-home projects can be dropped off by 3 p.m. at the Lodge or at the CSE office the next day.

There is a lot going on at NMU for MLK Day, which is appropriate as Rev. Dr. King was a man of action as well as words.

Everyone is encouraged to find ways to honor civil rights leader King, not just on this designated holiday, but every day of the year.

That would help to make this world a better place.