State College, Penn State Outreach to Host PA Dignity Day Celebration

State College Borough and Penn State Outreach are teaming up to host a PA Dignity Day celebration on Tuesday, Oct. 10.

The event from 5:30 to 8 p.m. in the Martin Luther King Plaza on South Fraser Street will be a local celebration of World Dignity Day. It will feature food trucks, music, and facilitated conversations centered on dignity.

Advance registration is required, and the first 150 people to register will receive a free meal ticket.

Global Dignity Day has been held since 2008 to celebrate unity in the belief that all deserve to live a life of dignity.

The local event aims to bring together community members to discover how dignity can be a seamless part of their daily lives. The dialogues, guided by 3 Dots Downtown cofounder Spud Marshall, will discuss topics that matter to individuals in the State College area and Penn State communities.

“We want to encourage people to take a pause for a moment and acknowledge that every person deserves to be treated with dignity,” Katie Marshall, program specialist for the Penn State Outreach and Online Education Office of Inclusion, Equity and Diversity, said in a statement. “This celebration will be centered around conversations with others within the Penn State and State College communities in an uplifting setting and consider how we can best honor the dignity of others in the places we live, work, learn and play.”

State College Mayor Ezra Nanes issued a proclamation on Monday declaring Oct. 10 as PA Dignity Day in the borough.

“I love the celebration of Global Dignity Day,” Nanes said in a statement. “The message is one I deeply believe in, that every single person and every person’s uniqueness is valuable to our human family. That we are united by our shared humanity and universal human values of kindness, compassion, understanding and love.”

In the event of rain, the event will be moved to the State College Municipal Building, 243 S. Allen St..