IU remembers King’s legacy

Forty years ago Friday, on April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on the balcony of his hotel in Memphis, Tenn.\nThe inspirational speaker who believed in nonviolent protest was at the forefront of the Civil Rights movement.\n“He was able to communicate with people at the level that they could identify with him,” said Edwin Marshall, vice president for Diversity, Equity, and Multicultural Affairs. \nKing’s main goal was to create equal opportunities for everyone. \n“He was one of the greatest Americans ever,” said Eric Love, director of the Office of Diversity Education.\nLove said King was one of the people in U.S. history who has correctly used\nthe Constitution. \nLove said IU, like the rest of the country, was also affected by King’s vision of education.\nClaire King, associate director for Communications and Community Partnerships at IU, said an in e-mail interview she believes programs that help students be successful in college, such as 21st Century Scholars, would not be possible without King’s work and message.\nMarshall also believes King’s message has helped and will help IU become more diverse.\n“He set a task for this country in terms of how we should function as a society,” Marshall said.\nKing’s tasks will help IU as it continues to diversify – not just in numbers, but also in how we will continue to respect everyone for who they are, Marshall said. \nStill, 40 years later Love said King’s dream has not been fully realized.\n“The dream is an ideal,” senior Jason Richmond said. “An ideal can never be fully realized.” \nRichmond, who said he was not aware of the 40th anniversary of King’s passing because of his busy schedule, said there is always going to have to be work done to accomplish a greater goal.\nLike Richmond, Love also thinks we have to keep working toward King’s dream of equality.\n“I don’t think everyone is keeping his dream alive,” Love said.\nClaire King said in an e-mail interview that one of the ways IU can continue to pursue King’s dream is to prioritize doubling the minority enrollment by 2013.\nGraduate student Guru Nanjanagudu said he is an international student and does not relate to King’s vision as much as Americans do.\nNanjanagudu said it is difficult to analyze how affective things such as King’s vision have been. He said he has not seen discrimination since he has been at IU, but thinks it probably happens in bigger cities.\nLove said the best way to commemorate King’s death is to continue trying to accomplish what King was working for, which was equality.\n“We need to pick up the torch,” Love said.\nMarshall also said we should continue to strive for equality so everyone can have equal opportunities. He said he believes this will happen because of the powerful message King left us with 40 years ago.\n“His vision is hard to deny,” Marshall said.