While some enjoyed the day off Monday, 160 Longwood University students took part in a Service Challenge as part of area Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebrations.

According to Quincy Goodline, coordinator of the event and assistant director of Leadership Development with Longwood University, this is the 10th year students have participated in the Service Challenge event.

“There are 12 locations that students go to during the day’s event,” Goodline said.

Several of those locations included the Southside SPCA in Meherrin, the Wayland Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Keysville, the Southside Virginia Family YMCA, The Andy Taylor Early Childhood Development Center, The Woodland Inc., and sections of the High Bridge Trail State Park.

“The Service Challenge helps the Longwood community see this holiday as a ‘day on’ and not a day off,” said director of multicultural affairs with Longwood University Jonathan Page. “We want to challenge faculty, staff, and students to celebrate this remembering of Dr. King’s words by giving back to their community.”

Throughout the week, Longwood University will be hosting several events for the community as part of a week of celebrating the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr (MLK).

“The Jumpsuit Project” will be held Jan. 24, at 7 p.m. in the Wygal Building on Longwood University Campus.

The Jumpsuit Project is a dynamic program created by Sherrill Roland, and it continues to ignite conversations around issues related to incarceration. His performances challenge those who encounter the orange jumpsuit by encouraging them to address their prejudices toward those incarcerated. Roland was incarcerated while attending the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Roland was charged in Oct 2013 and sentenced to 13 months in prison. He served 10 months in the Central Detention Facility in Washington, D.C., and was released August 2014.

The Jumpsuit Project challenges ideas around mass incarceration.