25th-Annual Sumter Dream Walk will feature Morris College president as grand marshal

Since 2000, the Sumter community has walked to acknowledge and celebrate the significance of a holiday and the pivotal role its namesake played in bringing about a cohesive future.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day, often referred to as MLK Day, was first signed into law in 1983 and observed by some states from Jan. 20, 1986, until it became an official observance in each state's laws as well as a federal holiday in 2000.

To commemorate the holiday and celebrate the leader for nonviolent activism in the Civil Rights Movement, USC Sumter, Central Carolina Technical College and Morris College organized the Dream Walk to feature a program followed by a 3-mile walk, starting from USC Sumter's Nettles Building, near University Drive and Theater Drive.

For the event's 25th year, the walk's grand marshal will be Morris College President Said Sewell. Before assuming the college office in 2024, Sewell, a native of Houston and graduate of Morehouse College, served as director of the Office of Academics, Research and Student Success for Atlanta University Center Consortium. He also held numerous leadership positions at universities and colleges across the country, including Morehouse College and Fort Valley State University in Georgia, Lincoln University in Missouri and Kent State University in Ohio.

Sewell also founded the Center for African American Males: Research, Success and Leadership, which is a research and modeling center for the advancement of African American males.

Registration for the walk will begin at 8:30 a.m. at Nettles Building. The program, beginning at 9 a.m., will include a speech from Sewell, student presentations and selections from Morris College Choir. The 3-mile walk will begin at 9:40 a.m.

This event is open to the public and free for anyone wishing to participate.