MRULE adviser Jeanne Gazel said the group’s main goal is to build community through diversity. As part of this objective, students participate in service activities beyond MLK Day.

“We take the day on as opposed to off,” Gazel said.

The country needs more than one day of service to promote diversity, she said.

“I do think it’s a great idea to have the day, but nothing happens in a day,” Gazel said.

This continuous effort was discussed at an MRULE meeting Monday, in addition to how King’s speeches can relate to today’s issues.

Biochemistry and molecular biology senior Raven Lewis, an MRULE leader, said students are not doing enough to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

“Our generation is completely disconnected from the holiday, the man and the reason for it,” she said. “It’s not just a black holiday. He fought for people with all societal differences.”

Other organizations and people at MSU work to encourage diversity and acceptance in the community year-round, such as the MSU Office for Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives.

“The Office for Inclusion serves as an institutional focal point for promoting inclusion and diversity at Michigan State University,” said Paulette Granberry Russell, senior adviser to the president for diversity and director of the Office for Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives.

Russell said there always is room for improvement in diversity on MSU’s campus, and not just in terms of race.

“People need to think of diversity outside of the ways that people usually think of it,” she said. “Diversity should include religious, geographic, political and socioeconomic differences. In those terms, we clearly are a diverse campus and university.”