The 10th annual Martin Luther King Jr. March did not draw a record crowd Thursday, but for those involved, it renewed a commitment toward community unification.

Marchers started their cold walk at Stevenson Towers, traveled to the surrounding residence halls and closed with a celebration at the Holmes Student Center’s Carl Sandburg Auditorium.

NIU alumnus Maurice Thomas founded the march a decade ago.

“At the time, the NIU climate was very unequitable and racially divided,” Thomas said. “Through that chaos, not just I, other persons in the NIU community came together for the purposeful idea to bring all people together.”

Thomas attended his grandfather’s funeral Thursday and thought his strong dedication to King would be the unifying piece in the NIU march.

“[King’s] vision and life was focused on peace and justice, and that is what we wanted to reflect,” Thomas said.

In retrospect of his grandfather’s death, he shared a story about the man who inspired him to organize the first march.

“We were at Lake Michigan and my grandfather told me to put the water in my hand,” Thomas said. “I held it there and he asked me what I had. I said, ‘Water.’ He told me, no, I had everything that Lake Michigan had to offer me in my hand. The message was not to be limited in my thinking and what I see. That was what King was all about. Under struggle and chaos, genius comes about.”

Among the crowd of diverse marchers were DeKalb Mayor Bessie Chronopoulos, NIU President John Peters and NIU’s NAACP chapter president, Jeremiah Bundy.

Remarks were given by Student Association President Ken Getty, Tanya Cabrera of University Resources for Latinos and graduate student Wole Ralph. Scheduled keynote speaker Jane Smith was unable to attend because of a missed flight in Washington, D.C.

LaVerne Gyant, Center for Black Studies director, “called on the ancestors,” and audience members said she served as a compelling replacement for Smith.

Gyant recalled the day she learned King had been assassinated. She was outside, and picked up the closest thing to throw it in pain.

Many marchers thought the problem today is that the community is unconcerned and less involved in opportunities to unify.

“If this had been a party, the room would be packed,” march chairwoman Elizabeth Lloyd said. “Whether or not it was too cold outside wouldn’t have even been an issue. Gyant said [Sandburg Auditorium] used to be full. I don’t see how now, people can pass up this opportunity.

“We may think it has happened, but we have not arrived yet.”