Brandeis commemorated the late Rev. Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. yesterday in the University's sixth annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, capped by a collection of performances titled "The Queens of His Dream." The memorial, which was announced on Jan. 10 by a communitywide e-mail from Associate Dean of Student Life Jamele Adams, took on a new aspect this year by becoming a day of service coordinated by the Rev. Alexander Kern, in addition to its role as a memorial.

Kern, in addition to being the University's Protestant chaplain, is also executive director of Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries, which organized the volunteer opportunities.

"All he did was e-mail me and ask if we could put it [the Memorial and the Day of Service] together and I said sure, and he put the word out and lo and behold he got 300 folks to be involved with the day of service," Adams explained in an interview with the Justice.

"[Kern is] always doing things in the community, and this year, he asked if he could join the Dr. King Memorial by connecting it to what he was putting together, which was a day of service for the Rev. Dr. King, so it kind of worked out together," Adams said.

According to a Jan. 14 BrandeisNOW press release, volunteers for the day of service worked on issues concerning immigration, Haiti, homelessness, poverty and Sudan.

The volunteers were spread out across the Greater Boston area, working in Boston itself as well as other Massachusetts cities including Mattapan, Jamaica Plain, Sherborn, Dorchester and Waltham.

While some students volunteered, others participated in the activities offered as a part of the memorial celebration, including a free lunch in the Shapiro Campus Center, where students listened to what motivates people from different immigrant, ethnic and religious groups to serve on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, according to the BrandeisNOW press release.

The day finished with "The Queens of His Dream," an event which took place at 6:30 p.m. in the Carl J. Shapiro Campus Center Theater featuring all female performers.

Student performances included a song by Darlene Zephyrine '12, which included a part of King's "I Have a Dream" speech, poems by Claudianne Philippe '13 and Amanda Dryer '13, songs performed by Jewish a cappella group Ba'note and a dance performance by So Unique.

Adams explained that the performances focused on female performers because it celebrated a less-mentioned aspect of the Civil Rights movement.

"What a lot of folks don't recognize enough is, historically speaking, women have been forgotten too often, and for what is happening and what happened in this particular moment in history, there would be no freedom without women," he said. "I tell my [5-year-old] daughter . 'Girl power is what?' And she says, 'Real power.'"

In addition to the memorial's focus on the important role of women, it also focused on the University's commitment to raising aid and awareness for Haiti.

"Part of the program is a discussion about Haiti that's been happening for 2 years," Adams said.

Napoleon Lherisson '11, one of the leaders of the initiatives to raise money for Haiti, said in an interview with the Justice that he saw the night as a way to show what Brandeis students have done to support Haiti, including raising $30,000 for relief efforts and pledging support to continue to help the nation.

While the dates have not been finalized, Lherisson said that Hoops for Haiti and a Night for Haiti, popular fundraising events last year, will likely take place again this year.