King to be remembered on campus this week
Students reflect on civil rights pioneer's life, relevance today
Sydney Smith
The strong message of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. may not have had much presence on the ISU campus over the long, chilly weekend, but campus celebrations will be held later this week to commemorate his passionate commitment to equality and desegregation.
Events scheduled for this week include a carillon concert at noon Wednesday and a celebration with music and speakers at 4 p.m. Thursday in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union.
A community birthday celebration took place Monday night in the Ames High School Cafeteria and included birthday cake, music and a story.
Brian Phillips, president of the Government of the Student Body and senior in political science, who is scheduled to speak at Thursday's event, said King's message is still applicable to students at Iowa State today.
"We are a diverse campus," Phillips said. "It's important for us to take the time together to know people from other cultures and recognize that it's important to understand the makeup of our campus community and the culture we have here."
Greg Bonett, senior in electrical engineering, also a speaker Thursday, said he thinks King's message is just as relevant now as when he was alive.
"[The holiday] is important because the problems [King] talked about are still problems. They were urgent when he talked about them then, and they're urgent and important problems now," he said.
In correlation with Iowa State's Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration, the Advancing One Community Award will be presented to someone who has helped forward King's civil rights goals.
"This award is trying to give some recognition to community members who have gone above and beyond, as far as issues in civil justice," said Ian Ringgenberg, a member of the award committee and senior in anthropology. "Participation has been kind of dry for the past couple months, in regards to the award, and there were pretty low applications this year because of the extensive application process."
With his involvement with the award selection process, Ringgenberg has gained a deeper understanding of America's civil rights struggle.
"I've come to understand that his legacy is more misunderstood than anything," Ringgenberg said. "Some people really think that the issues his legacy covered don't exist today, and I don't think that is true. There are issues, like civil justice, where there is so much more work that needs to be done."
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