Today marks a very important day in history, and a day during which everyone should come together to celebrate, commemorate and work together to keep Martin Luther King Jr.'s ideas a part of this community.

There are numerous opportunities available to join in. It's quite easy to do so.

While we still officially have classes today, take an hour out of your day to do something, anything, to be involved in a historically important day.

On that note, this is a nationally recognized holiday and for a good reason.

Considering many universities give Martin Luther King Jr. Day off, Penn State should ponder following suit.

There are those who will say that students don't need another excuse to go out and drink on a Sunday night. But that's not the point.

It shouldn't be about the "day off," reminiscent of high school. It shouldn't be about being politically correct or losing a class day.

What it should be about is this: Telling your students, Penn State, to go out and make the most of this day, without the hassle of an excuse, without the hassle of making up school work and missing important class time. It should be about encouraging students to consider the importance of this holiday, the historical significance, the idea that it comes before a math or science class.

And a lot of professors have caught on to the idea. A lot of professors cancel their classes because of the MLK Day of Service. Of course, there are those professors who will run business as usual today, which is fine as well. Mentioning the importance of this day in a fleeting comment before moving onto business management would be just as good a service to students and the Penn State community.

The Undergraduate Student Government does a commendable job by organizing the events surrounding MLK Day of Service.

The one question that arises from this situation is, if Penn State does not provide a day off for students, then why doesn't USG move the day of service to the weekend, when there are no classes and students have ample time to participate?

The university has a tough task at hand.

Giving days off throws off the balance of the semester schedule -- a schedule that has undergone significant changes as is over the last few years. Yet, in this circumstance, the administration should give very careful thought to making MLK Day a school holiday -- to allow its students to properly celebrate the work of a brave man.