Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters has organized a “Concert-4-Kindness” to spread the message of utilizing kindness to promote a better world. 

The concert will take place on Jan. 15 at 4 p.m. in the Carole and Barry Kaye Performing Arts Auditorium during Martin Luther King Jr. weekend. 

The concert will be headlined by Montana Tucker, a singer and social media influencer, who was born and raised in Boca Raton, and is donating her performance. 

People submitted different types of art for the event in the “Expressions of Kindness” student showcase where winners will receive the chance to be on stage with Tucker, prizes, and/or their art shared that day or on social media. The winners will be announced at the concert.

“I think something like this is just so important to inspire kindness, and I feel like all these bad things that are happening in the world lately would be a lot better if everyone was just kinder to each other,” Tucker said. 

Tickets for FAU students and underserved youth from other schools will be free due to community sponsors. The event page lists community sponsors and partners, the host committee, and FAU partners. 

FAU students can claim their free ticket at fauevents.com. For everyone else, tickets are priced at $10 and $20 depending on seating. All proceeds from the event will go into the “Make a Difference Fund” to support the future Kurt and Marilyn Wallach Holocaust and Jewish Studies Building.

Joining Tucker will be performances by Director of Dance Clarence Brooks, BriGuel, Florida Singing Sons and Chorale Solei, and students alongside their mentors performing instrumentals that are involved with Nat King Cole Generation Hope.

Bonnie S. Kaye, president and chief strategist of Kaye Communications PR & Marketing, has a long history of involvement with FAU. She conceived the idea for the concert with Tucker’s mother, who she has known since middle school. Bonnie S. Kaye will be chairing the event with her husband Jon Kaye, alongside Tucker and FAU. 

“As we lose the generations from all backgrounds who bore witness and survived injustice, bigotry and watershed events in history in their lifetime, who better than their grandchildren to stand up and speak out against hate, bullying and discrimination, and advocate for better education and understanding?” Bonnie S. Kaye wrote in a Dec. 28, 2022, email.

Michael Horswell, dean of the College of Arts and Letters, believes the event is important because of the lessons it offers.

“It’s a concert that aims to really put out positive messaging in the world, and try to fight all the kind of negativity that we see in social media or sometimes in real life,” he said. 

Horswell states that part of the reason this concert aligns with the mission of the college is because of the upcoming Kurt and Marilyn Wallach Holocaust and Jewish Studies Building. This building will house the college’s Peace, Justice and Human Rights Center. The building will also house other programs focused on Jewish studies, Holocaust education, diplomacy, and social justice.

Tucker’s grandparents are Holocaust survivors, and Tucker will be showing some of her 10 segment TikTok documentary on Holocaust education at the event. 

“I hope this concert really shows people that you should judge the person whether they’re a bad person or a good person, not because the color of their skin, or their race, or ethnicity, or religion, etcetera,” Tucker said.