The number 110 comes from MSU’s Project 60/50, a year-long “community conversation” about civil rights inspired by the anniversaries of two landmark events: the 60th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling and the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The goal is to have 1,000 Spartans take the pledge, said Renee Zientek, the director of MSU’s Center for Service Learning and Civic Engagement. Citing statistics on the value of volunteer time, Zientek said 1,000 volunteers would equate to the MSU community contributing more than $2 million in volunteer time to the Lansing area.

“We thought it would be really good for students to volunteer alongside faculty and staff, rather than just on their own, to be part of a bigger MSU community,” Zientek said. “We wanted also for the students to meet more community partners and to make a longer commitment to doing something, rather than just a couple of hours on MLK day.”

The event invited local nonprofit service organizations to the Union as part of a volunteer fair, where community members were able to learn more about the organizations present and sign up to receive information about service opportunities.

Although 39 organizations were listed as community partners for the event, 15 of the tables remained empty. Zientek said she didn’t know why the organizations hadn’t shown up to the fair, but speculated that they perhaps did not have representatives to send or had conflicting service activities on the holiday.

The student organization Into The Streets usually coordinates the MLK Day of Service, but partnered with the Center for Service Learning and Civic Engagement this year to hold the volunteer fair. Into The Streets president and general management sophomore Austin Dickerson said his organization was “on board with it from the start.”

“It’s bigger than just today,” Dickerson said. “People are going to move past just volunteering on MLK day and continue volunteering throughout the year and I think that’s very significant and very crucial to what we do.”

Community members’ hours will be tracked through self-reporting on a volunteer service social network called GiveGab, where volunteers will also be able to learn about more opportunities to devote their time. Zientek estimated about 240 students attended the event, with an estimated 200 taking the pledge.

Chemistry senior Lalita Hayes, who works as an intern with one of the community partners at the fair, said her volunteer experience opened her eyes and encouraged everyone to volunteer their time.

“If not the whole entire 110, even just one hour can make the biggest significance here within the Lansing community and other communities,” Hayes said.