Union University cancels classes for day of service

JACKSON, Tenn. — Students ditch their backpacks for shovels and rakes and give back to the Hub City. Union University hosted its 14th annual Day of Remembrance and Service.

“Every year, we go for a campus and community day, and we come out and help the people who helped us when our university got hit by the tornado,” sophomore and Kappa Delta member Makinna Tyner said.

The last tornado to hit campus was in 2008. Residence halls were destroyed, and the campus has since rebuilt. The university says this is a way to say thank you for all the ways the city of Jackson helped during that time of need.

Some students took the day to serve their community with their major.

“That’s really what I wanted to do when I became an art major was to find a way to take something that gives me so much joy and to serve people with it,” senior and graphic design major Mary Scarlett said.

Scarlett and her campus chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts are working on a project for local nonprofit RIFA. The group is working on a marketing campaign and signage for the nonprofit.

“I think it’s really important that we have this day to sort of step outside ourselves, and it’s good for us on a personal level to apply our skills and giftings in order to save other people, because that’s what we’re supposed to do once we get out into the real world,” Scarlett said.

The campus had more than 50 projects all across the city.

This week, Nov. 3-5, is also the university’s homecoming.