By Trey Huntsman

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With the moving of the Martin Luther King Center from the Student Center to its temporary home in Blazer Hall, students are honoring the time spent at the Student Center throughout the week.

The MLK Center hosted a Dead Week Celebration from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. from April 27-29 in honor of their time in the current Student Center. Students could come by and write their favorite memories or sign the reflection board hanging in the MLK Center with an ice cream party at the end of the week. The celebration was organized by senior Jamarl Bryant, an intern at the MLK Center.

“It started out when we were trying to think of ways to promote the move and I was like, ‘we could tie in the memory of the King Center,’” said Bryant while talking with his supervisor. “We could encapsulate the memory of the King Center forever, and that’s where we came up with the idea of the reflections board.”

This week’s celebration has been emotional for students who have spent time in the King Center.

“The King Center opened up since 1989, and ever since it has been a trailblazer for diversity,” Bryant said. “I’ve been here since my freshman year and the King Center has been a place that I’ve felt like I’ve grown.”

Many students have written their memories on the reflection board and enjoyed their final days in the soon-to-be former MLK Center. For decades, the MLK Center has been a way for minority students to come and enjoy themselves on campus. The Dead Week Celebration has seen many students of all years come in and pay their respects to where they spent so much time in their stay at UK.

While this is a temporary move, the thought of leaving the Student Center has been difficult on some students.

”It’s just an adjustment, it’s what we have to do to plan for the future,” Bryant said. The MLK Center will be in Blazer Hall while the new Student Center is being built. During the Dead Week Celebration, students can view the plans for the new design of the MLK Center in the new Student Center.

“I think moving forward in a bigger space and it being the center of the Student Center, a lot more people will be able to come in and be involved,” said senior Jazmene Landing.

The Dead Week Celebration has given a chance to the participants of the MLK Center to welcome a new beginning.