50th Anniversary of the MLK March on Frankfort - On March 5, over 175 KSU students joined thousands at the state capitol including schools, churches and activists as well as participants from the original march to recreate the historic event that protested the old public accommodation laws in 1964. KSU students had several meetings in February and created signs that supported equal pay for women, raising the minimum wage, protecting voting rights, and increasing federal and state funding for historically black colleges and universities. Many students learned about House Bill 70, which, in its original form, would allow convicted felons who have served their time and paid restitution to be able to vote. A new display was added to the Visitors Center at the Academic Services Building celebrating this historic event.

Operation Preparation: One-on-One Advising and Career Planning for 8th and 10th grade Students- On March 10 and 11, the Office of Regional Stewardship and Civic Engagement hosted over 900 eighth and tenth grade students from the Franklin County School district for two days of college and career planning. Sessions included one-on-one advising sessions with over (125) volunteer community and campus professionals, a “soft skills” workshop led by Gae Broadwater, a presentation by KHEAA, Green Jobs in the 21st Century, Upward Bound Opportunities, 2-year Technical Certificates and Opportunities in the Military. This was the third year KSU hosted this event.

Frankfort Public Arts Tour FPAT (Phase II) - Two years ago the Office of Regional Stewardship and Civic Engagement partnered with the Downtown Frankfort Inc, Liberty Hall Historic Site, Franklin County Tourism Office and Joanna Hay to create a web-based cell phone application that highlighted twelve tourist attractions in the Frankfort community, including the Whitney Young Statue and Hathaway Hall at KSU (Phase I). This project was a tremendous success and all partners agreed to enhance the tour in order to make it more inclusive.

The purpose of Phase II is threefold: to promote awareness and use of the FPAT through social media; to develop web-based activities that will encourage both residents and visitors (individuals, K-16 students, seniors, families with children, tour groups, and school field trips) to engage more deeply with the art and engagement in a public forum about the future creation of public art; and to support the creation and documentation of a tile mural by youth and a visiting artist to add to the FPAT. During the next two semesters, Kentucky State University service learning students from four courses which include UNV-101, Art, Photography, and Computer Science will participate in all three components of this project.