Fresno State students, faculty and staff gathered on Thursday to honor Martin Luther King Jr. during a commemoration ceremony in the Peace Garden. ­­

The hourlong event, organized by the Cross Cultural & Gender Center, started at noon with a musical performance of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” by Jeremy Miller.

Following individual speeches from Fresno State President Dr. Joseph Castro and Frank Lamas, vice president of student affairs, were presented.

“I had the privilege over the past few days to join several in celebrating Dr. King and his legacy, and I have always enjoyed doing that,” Castro said, “I see the rich diversity of our community at all of the events.”

Lamas says that he views King as a hero.

“He [King] was a champion for the rights of all people and for the good of society. He was peaceful, yet assertive. He dreamed for a day where all people are judged upon their characters or deeds,” Lamas said. “What a wonderful thing.”

Two additional speakers — Rabbi Laura Novak Winer from Temple Beth Israel and Imam Seyed Ghazvini from Islamic Culture Center presented individual speeches.

“Every year around this time, our nation celebrates the vision and the life of Martin Luther King,” Ghazvini said. “This is because of his vision, his philosophy.”

The commemoration ceremony continued with speeches from keynote speakers, Pastor Tobaise Brookins and professor Dr. Sudarshan Kapoor while the garlanding of King’s statue took place between their speeches.

Brookins said, “I would hope that all of us will leave away from this ceremony, this commemoration, this celebration and say ‘I’m going to choose to impact with dreaming.’”

Catherine Brewer, academic counseling graduate student, says that she attends King’s commemoration ceremony every year.

“This is a wonderful celebration,” she said. “This is the first time that I saw all of the dignitaries here.”

During last year’s commemoration ceremony, “I saw Dr. Castro. But this time they had several speakers from different religious organizations, which was awesome,” Brewer said, “Everyone came together, honoring Dr. King’s dream.”

“I enjoyed the speakers, they really kept a hold on what Dr. King believed in, and I really had a wonderful time,” she said.