Wednesday marked the 50th anniversary of the assassination of civil rights activist and Boston University alumnus Martin Luther King Jr. BU has held multiple events throughout the week to honor his life and legacy, including lectures, prayer services, panels and a concert.
Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore said that while he is “ambivalent” about commemorations and anniversaries of a murder, he appreciates how BU has honored King this week.
“I’ve been impressed … in terms of the multifaceted ways that people are looking into the legacy … the way that people are asking questions about the society and how people are raising those questions that King raised throughout his life around issues of militarism, poverty and racism,” Elmore said.
John Battaglino, assistant dean of students and director of student activities at BU, said that while he doesn’t necessarily want to celebrate King’s assassination, he does think it is important to remember King.
“People are sharing what they perceive his dream or his message has become,” Battaglino said. “I think it is a time to reflect. We’re all about learning and reflection at the university.”
Battaglino said the BU community is proud that King studied at the university. King was mentored by Howard Thurman, the then-dean of Marsh Chapel, during his time at BU. He graduated with a doctoral degree from the School of Theology in 1955 and was given an honorary degree in 1959.
“We’re proud that he had that place here,” Battaglino said. “But I think it’s more what he meant to the world and not anything specific to BU.”
Sonya Harvey-Justiniano, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, said she thinks honoring King is important, especially to continue to strive for his vision of equality.
“I think there’s still more room to grow from King’s vision,” Harvey-Justiniano said. “Especially at BU itself — there isn’t much diversity.”
On Monday, the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center hosted a panel in collaboration with The HistoryMakers, the nation’s largest African-American video oral history collection. The event, titled “Tell Them about the Dream: The Gotlieb Center Remembers King,” revisited King’s dream with a discussion while also exhibiting items from the Gotlieb Center’s Martin Luther King Jr. archive.
The Rev. Traci Blackmon, the executive minister of Justice and Witness Ministries of the United Church of Christ, gave the School of Theology 2018 Lowell Lecture on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the School of Theology held a special prayer service to commemorate the 50th anniversary of King’s death and to honor his legacy at Marsh Chapel. Dean of Marsh Chapel Robert Allan Hill led the service.
Cornell William Brooks, a visiting professor of social ethics, law and justice movements and former president of the NAACP, delivered a sermon at the service.
Elmore and College of Fine Arts professor of music Victor Coelho led a discussion titled the “The Night James Brown Saved Boston” on Thursday regarding the concert James Brown held at the Boston Garden that helped quell potential riots in Boston after King was assassinated. Following the discussion, there was a “jam session” that featured Fred Wesley, a trombonist for the James Brown band.
Friday, Louise Kennedy, a BU Development Communications senior writer and editor, will moderate a panel discussion titled “Protest Without Words: The Arts and Social Change Panel Discussion.” The panel will explore the role fine arts in the United States’ history of protest, resistance and resilience.
Former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick will be the special guest preacher at Marsh Chapel’s weekly interdenominational service on Sunday. The service is titled “After Fifty Years: The King Legacy in Word and Song.”
Bricen Standish, a freshman in the College of Communication and CAS, said he thinks King’s legacy is not represented enough at BU.
“It’s not represented in a huge manner …,” Standish said. “I kind of have a problem with it because there’s a Kilachand building but there’s not a Martin Luther King building, but also it’s kind of like would he really want that?”
Claire-Solene Becka, a freshman in CAS, said she thinks BU should do more to promote the events held to honor King.
“I don’t really know what they’re doing,” Becka said, “and I think it is a big deal that MLK went here and I think he is one of the most important people in American society. And it shocks me to not know that much about what they’re doing to honor him.”
Regarding contemporary social issues and activism, Battaglino said King’s message lives on through them, but that there might still be more work to be done in order to carry it out completely.
“I think there’s pride of course, but then of course there comes sadness too,” Battaglino said. “Maybe we failed this young man when he was assassinated.”
Pedro Falci • Apr 6, 2018 at 10:15 am
Do the students who claim to not know what the university is doing to honor Dr. King or think it doesn’t do enough to communicate it:
1. Read their emails
2. Read BU T0day
3. Read the Daily Free Press
4. Wonder why the flags were at half-staff on Wednesday
5. Follow BU on instagram and twitter
6. Know they can access the BU calendar in 5 seconds by going to bu.edu/calendar
7. Drop by the Howard Thurman Center while they’re getting food in the GSU to inquire about King events
8. Bother to visit the public MLK Reading Room on the 3rd floor of Mugar which is open year-round
How about some responsibility and initiative instead of always complaining you don’t know? Do you want us to knock on your door every day with an itinerary of events?
Desmond Molloy • Apr 6, 2018 at 2:32 pm
I don’t know why you would post an incendiary comment under someone else’s name. I do know, however, that Pedro Falci would never have written this. @Freep, please be more careful with your comments moderation.