Community leaders and engaged citizens of the Fort Smith community gathered at Elm Grove Community Center Monday, January 16, to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith’s annual breakfast and panel discussion.Extolling the importance of fostering community-based solutions to societal problems, panelists focused their discussion around the theme “Crossing the bridge over troubled waters.”The panelists – Carl Geffken, Fort Smith City Administrator; Keith Gibson, member of the Arkansas State Highway Commission; Dr. Ann-Gee Lee, UAFS Professor of English and Rhetoric, Advisor to the UAFS Cultural Network, Read This Program Advisor, and Literacy Council Board Member; Karla Palma, a community organizer with Arkansas United Community Coalition; and Jay Richardson, State Representative-District 49 – spoke to hundreds of guests. Nya Stewart, a UAFS student-athlete and media communication major, moderated the panel.Discussion centered around ways leaders can engage the community to solve problems and the importance of speaking and listening with an open mind.Launching into the troubled waters theme, Geffken joined Fort Smith Mayor George McGill in commending the way the Fort Smith community and the Fort Smith Police Department responded to the killing of George Floyd and the nationwide protests that followed. The need for community-oriented policing has been clear, Geffken said, echoing McGill’s sentiment that Fort Smith’s commitment to its people is ahead of the curve.
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