Martin Luther King Jr. Day rarely intersects with the University's academic calendar because the third Monday of January is often during Winter Break. For the next two years, however, the University has the opportunity to see how students, faculty and administrators take advantage of the day while on Grounds, away from classes and with the words and principles of King in mind.
Timely negotiations
According to Wynne Stuart, associate provost for academic support and classroom management, the decision to cancel classes Jan. 21 developed three years ago when the calendar for the upcoming years was planned. The decision, a change from previous years, was influenced by members of the University who felt the community would benefit from a day to commemorate King, Stuart said, noting that "particularly students in the past had made strong requests to the [Faculty Senate] Calendar Committee."
The decision to suspend classes this day rather than Columbus Day or Labor Day -- national holidays when classes at the University are in session -- was not because one was more important to the committee than another but because it recognizes a particular man's work that is still applicable to modern society.
"The day gives people a chance to commemorate and memorialize King's work," she said. "It is a chance to reflect on how far we have come and how far we still need to go, because he is an historical figure whose actions are very germane to events today."
Black Student Alliance President Tamara Dottin echoed Stuart's words and emphasized that the cancellation of classes would allow students to participate in service events and help others -- the focus of King's work.
"A big theme around the day is that it is not a day off but a day on," Dottin said. "I want to encourage students to go out there and do something and not just treat this holiday as another day off."
A day on
Student groups such as the BSA and Alpha Phi Alpha have been busy organizing events to offer students those opportunities, according to Dottin and Zuri Darrell, president of the University's National Pan-Hellenic Council and member of Alpha Phi Alpha.
"King didn't do what he did so people can just go as normal," Darrell said. "He wanted change."
Alpha Phi Alpha members have planned a vigil to honor King, who was a member of their fraternity, Monday night, during which they will read excerpts from King's speeches and commemorate his life as a leader, Darrell said.
Dottin and Stuart also said there will be other service opportunities throughout the day, including a cleanup on Cherry Avenue, work at the Salvation Army and volunteer activities at the Boys and Girls Club.
The "day on" sentiment is truly captured in a panel discussion on the war in Iraq, to be held Monday evening. According to English Prof. Deborah McDowell, who helped organize the event at the Woodson Center, the panel is centered around a speech that King gave many times and most frequently during the year prior to his assassination, called "Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam."
"We want to mark this day with celebration and contemplations," she added. "We want to contemplate the implications of King's words in 1968 in relation to the war in Iraq."
According to McDowell, King spoke out so vocally against the war because he believed it was the enemy of the poor -- drawing resources from Johnson's social programs in order to finance the military -- and King thought the war had a disproportionate impact on "black and brown men," McDowell said. "When we substitute Iraq for Vietnam we can readily see similarities."
The panel will look to apply the principles Kings vocalized in that speech and others to structure their discussion of the war in Iraq and its effect on American citizens, she said.
Marching forward
According to Dion Lewis, assistant dean of students in the Office of African-American Affairs, though King's words are relevant to these recent events, the University must also look forward to keeping King's legacy in mind in the upcoming years.
"There need to be efforts -- whether it's from student groups or departments -- to make sure that King's legacy is not just upheld by people of color, but that many more of us are vested in what King stood for," Lewis said.
To accomplish this, Darrell suggested the University take advantage of its own ability to cultivate awareness within the community.
"From a student perspective, we have come a long way, and CIOs have been given a lot of freedom to express their opinions," he said. "As an academic institution, I will push for more academic studies to focus on diversity and cultural studies."
Darrell noted that these "unrepresented perspectives" not only need to be an option for students but a requirement.
Enhancing the University's curriculum, McDowell said, would help to address diversity in all aspects.
"We must reach out to people whose social and economic situation is the least privileged," she said. "Our students need to be reminded of that aspect."
McDowell and Lewis emphasized, however, that socio-economic understanding and academic involvement is no place to stop working.
"King called the brotherhood of human beings 'a beautiful symphony,'" McDowell said. "King pressed a needed revolution of values in American culture and what would promote a vision of that revolution would be that which transformed society from a 'thing' society to a 'person' society. All the components of his message are something students must hear and keep hearing"
Read More
A review on a year with a roommate
By Rosie Strickland | 3 days agoMy roommate has indirectly taught me the importance of learning how to build my own routine.
Africa Day captures the ‘essence’ of African heritage
By Kate Johnson | 4 days agoSaturday's sold-out event featured a four-hour program of modeling scenes, dance performances and musical acts in the Newcomb Ballroom.
A guide to the perfect first date
By Anna Stamey | 4 days agoHere's my take on the formula you should use to scheme a potentially perfect date.
