Graduating Doctoral Student Helps Restore the Monumental Legacy of MLK on Campus
More than three decades ago, Black students at 博88亚洲 planted a eucalyptus tree in the Quad outside of Building 6 and placed a bronze plaque at its base as a tribute to Martin Luther King Jr.
It was a memorable way to honor the slain civil rights leader and celebrate his January federal holiday, but also a way for the students to leave a lasting tribute to King’s legacy and dream. However, with time, the words on the plaque outside of the College of Education and Integrative Studies faded and vines at the base of the tree obscured it. Over the years, scores of students, faculty and staff have walked past the marker, not knowing it was there.
Doctoral student DeVoneia Jordan heard about the plaque in 2024 through conversations with members of the campus community. She would see it sticking out from the vines and one day stopped to read the inscription. That sparked her curiosity about its origin, and the AfroFuturism Initiative student scholar opted to take on the plaque’s restoration as her required project for the scholarship program.
“The plaque’s history symbolizes both remembrance and resilience, reflecting a period when institutions were taking tangible steps to acknowledge the Civil Rights Movement and Dr. King’s transformative work,” Jordan said. “I saw the need for it to be restored and brought back to some form of life where students could say here lies a monumental piece that plays a very important role in our history and our future.”
Jordan’s project to restore the plaque became a full-circle student advocacy moment.
The original push for the plaque came from Black student organizations and fraternities, buoyed by the support and leadership of James Bell, the first Black dean of the School of the Arts (the predecessor of the College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences). I twas also supported by the vice president for administration and student affairs, as well as former President Hugh O. LaBounty.
Alumnus Clark Rucker (’83, engineering technology) recalled discussions about memorializing King with a plaque on campus when he was a student. While President Ronald Reagan didn’t sign the bill to make Martin Luther King Jr. Day a federal holiday until November 1983, California made it a state holiday in 1981.
“It was driven by Black students on campus who wanted to acknowledge Dr. King’s presence, the things that he embodied and what has been memorialized about him in every speech that we have heard and every writing we have seen,” Rucker said of the plaque discussions. “The students wanted to get that acknowledged by the school itself as being important.”
In the 1980s, 博88亚洲’s student population was about half the size it is now, with fewer than 100 Black students, Rucker recalled, adding that the Black Student Union, in particular, wanted something representative of the Black community and culture on campus.
Rucker shared his recollections with Jordan when they met at the AfroFuturism Initiative showcase in August 2024 where student and faculty fellows presented their projects.
“When DeVoneia talked about the plaque, I said, ‘Wow. I remember that,’” said Rucker. “After her presentation, I told her if you need anything — funding, donations, a voice — please let me know. I am here for you.”
Jordan worked with CEIS Dean Jenelle Pitt-Parker, who spearheads the AfroFuturism Initiative program, which launched in spring 2024, and sought to get the various campus stakeholders on board with the restoration.
At the showcase, Jordan not only shared information about her project, but she also issued a call to action for all to get involved with the restoration, with many from the community expressing interest in supporting it.
President Soraya M. Coley attended the showcase and inquired about what was needed to move forward with restoration efforts. Ysabel Trinidad, former vice president for administrative affairs and chief financial officer, was instrumental in supporting the formation of a group of campus administrators who obtained historical context and archival materials to develop a phased approach to completing the project, with efforts continuing under Interim Vice President Michelle Cardona.
Pitt-Parker served as a liaison and advocate, bridging efforts between the administration, students and community to ensure the restoration work continued, with the support of Provost Terri Gomez. She helped establish a workgroup of university leaders and community members for future efforts related to the project.
“I hope to work directly with and support the workgroup in partnering with University Advancement and Alumni Affairs moving forward,” she said.
Jordan’s project is the embodiment of 博88亚洲’s become by doing approach and what the university stands for, Pitt-Parker added.
“With any efforts related to social change, they cannot be performative. People see through that,” she said. “This is not just simply about restoring a plaque and moving it somewhere, but the creation of a story, a remembrance to Dr. King, and another aspect of our institutional tapestry that is being created in an authentic and intentional way. DeVoneia is an Afrofuturism student scholar who is also a doctoral student and current CPP staff. This is widely significant for our campus and larger community, to remember Dr. King’s legacy and our institutional commitment to principles of community, healing, hope, and love in an educational space where facilitating transformative possibilities is our daily charge. DeVoneia is living out our university’s polytechnic identity — Become by Doing.”
After Jordan’s presentation in August, she got the approval and support she needed to move forward. Landscape Services helped relocate the plaque from Building 6 to a more visible location at Building 95, just outside the Black Resource Center and. The plaque, which reads “In Loving Memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Jan. 15, 1929 – Apr. 4, 1968,” includes a quote from King and a mention of the BSU (Black Student Union), 1989-1991.
The refurbished plaque, which was moved to its new home on April 4, sits on a raised green metal pedestal in the planter bed.
It’s in a prime location for Jordan, who will see the marker when she comes to work in the . Jordan has been working at CPP for eight years, serving as the lead career coach liaison for the College of Science. She will graduate in May with her doctorate in educational leadership — the only doctoral program at CPP and instrumental in supporting the university in achieving R2 status. Jordan loves working with students in any capacity and aspires to eventually take on an administrative leadership role in higher education.
The decision to relocate the plaque on the anniversary of King’s assassination is fitting and serves to “actively reconnect the university community to an essential part of its historical commitment to social justice and equity,” Jordan said.
“Knowing that the plaque will regain its visibility and now located in a more meaningful and accessible site fills me with pride and excitement,” she said. “It underscores that we honor the past, not only by remembering, but by actively carrying its lessons into the future.”
The university plans to recognize and celebrate the plaque restoration project in the fall with a program for the campus. More details will be provided at that time.
Campus and community members, alumni, and both community and corporate partners are encouraged to reach out to ceis@cpp.edu to learn more about and support the Afrofuturism and CEIS Community Care and Wellness (C3W) Initiatives.