<span style=

“font-size: 14pt;”> UNA students and members of the

community paid tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during a

program held in the GUC performance center last Friday. The

presentation was followed by a march to the Baptist Campus

Ministries (BCM) building.

<span style=

“font-size: 14pt;”> The program was organized by the

Student Multicultural Advisory Committee (SMAC), the Office of

Student Engagement and BCM. It has been held annually for more than

10 years, but students have been more involved in the production

this year than ever before.

<span style=

“font-size: 14pt;”> The hopes and dreams of individual

students were scrawled on a banner outside the performance center.

They ranged from personal goals to wide-reaching advocacies for

social equality and world peace. Snapshots of these dreams were

digitally projected behind the speakers and performers.

<span style=

“font-size: 14pt;”> SMAC member Allison Ray welcomed

everyone to the event, followed by a performance by Ascending

Voices, a Tai Chi dance by the Chinese Student Group and a

recitation of part of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech by members of

SMAC.

<span style=

“font-size: 14pt;”> The keynote speaker was Dr. Thomas

Calhoun, associate vice president for student affairs. Calhoun’s

speech was both a commemoration of King and a call to action. He

warned against complacency, reminding the audience that King gave

up comfort and placed himself in the line of fire because

circumstances required doing so.

<span style=

“font-size: 14pt;”> “In the presence of injustice,

there is a need for action,” said Calhoun. “King rejected

complacency. He rejected the idea that letting time go by solves

problems. We can intellectualize about social problems and remove

ourselves from the responsibility to do anything, overcome to the

point where we feel we can’t do anything about it.”

<span style=

“font-size: 14pt;”> To illustrate the difference

between having knowledge of a problem and taking action to solve a

problem, Calhoun compared King to a thermostat, able to determine

the climate and alter it when necessary. He compared many clergymen

and community leaders of the time to thermometers, able to gauge

how hot it is, but unwilling to do anything about it.

<span style=

“font-size: 14pt;”> “Are you a thermostat or simply a

thermometer?” asked Calhoun. “Be a thermostat. When you leave this

world you will have changed the climate because you made it a point

to do good. If we are going to embrace the themes of Dr. King we

simply cannot complacently do no harm. You have to intentionally do

good.”

<span style=

“font-size: 14pt;”> The program concluded with a

performance by the UNA Chamber Choir and an invitation to join the

march to the BCM. Participants filed in line behind a banner that

read, “Remember King: Honor yourself, live his dream.” Marchers

sang the lyrics to “We Shall Overcome,” demonstrating unity and a

commitment to honoring King’s legacy in their daily

lives.

<span style=

“font-size: 14pt;”> SMAC member and program

participant Emily McCann feels that the best way to honor King is

by promoting tolerance and consideration of others.

<span style=

“font-size: 14pt;”> “I joined this group to try to

teach tolerance,” she said. “I think education is the key to

promoting tolerance. If you’re too focused on your own problems,

you won’t be able to consider the problems of others.”