Campus News

UK Students to Visit Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Dedication

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 13, 2011) -- It's been a long, seven-week delay, but a diverse group of  nine University of Kentucky undergraduates plus three university employees acting as their escorts will finally board a plane Friday afternoon for Washington, D.C., and the postponed dedication of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial. These 12 representatives of the university will act as eyewitnesses to a historical event that is, for millions, the culmination of a lifelong dream to honor an exceptional man of peace and courage. The dedication of the memorial was originally scheduled Aug. 27, four days after a rare East Coast earthquake and the day of an unpredictable hurricane that shattered nerves all along the Eastern seaboard.

The experience for the UK contingent is the brainchild of Dorneshia Thomas, a Gaines Fellow junior from Atlanta, Ga. She took her dream of attending the dedication to the Catalyst Coalition, UK’s student diversity education team, and found complete support. The students then sought and found enthusiastic support from several university officials, including Robert Mock, vice president for Student Affairs, and Judy Jackson, vice president for Institutional Diversity. From that core group, more administrators and staff were recruited until eventually nine full scholarships to attend the event were secured.

“To support efforts to take the university community to greater heights as it relates to all areas of education, but particularly diversity education, the Catalyst Coalition developed our Kentucky Supports the Dream Campaign,” said Thomas, president of the coalition. “The campaign is designed to provide our university and state the opportunity to financially support the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, while also affording students the opportunity to be a part of this historic moment. We aim to inspire students to create change, and become involved in various facets of Dr. King’s work and legacy when we return to campus.”

The students who won the scholarships include Thomas; Maya Bentley, a junior from Cincinnati majoring in biosystems and agricultural engineering; Jimin Lee, an accounting and management senior from Seoul, South Korea; Alexandria Sehon, a junior from Owensboro majoring in anthropology; Joshua Edmonds, a Lexington senior majoring in telecommunications; Ronald Harrison, a senior from Louisville majoring in marketing and international business; Zachary Lamb, a junior English major from Union, Ky.; Reyno Tapia, a biology major who came to UK from a small village in Mexico; and Nichelle Marshall, a Lexington native and senior nursing student.

The students will be accompanied by Vice President Mock, Rebecca Comage, assistant director of Diversity Education and Community Building, and philosophy Professor Arnold Farr, who is also the scholar-in-residence for the Martin Luther King Jr. Cultural Center at UK. Farr's two-year appointment commmits him to conduct and link his research and discipline to relevant aspects of the work of King. The position was created by the UK Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion and its Vice President Judy “JJ” Jackson and enjoys the support of all the university’s academic deans. Farr’s inaugural term as MLK Scholar in Residence is sponsored by Mark Kornbluh, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

“I feel that it is important and necessary for the University of Kentucky to be a part of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial project,” said Thomas. “Our university is benefiting from Dr. King’s life and work, from the basketball court to the classroom, and it is only respectful and appropriate that we acknowledge that publicly. The memorial is a good reminder to our university and the world of how far we have come, while keeping before us that we still have a long way to go. I hope that in this historic moment, we will be compelled by the legacy of Dr. King to continue making the needed sacrifices to get our society to that place Dr. King dreamed about. I believe we are closer to the realization of his dream than we have ever been before, but we have not yet arrived. We must keep striving to get there,” she added.

Other King scholarship winners had their own reasons, some of them almost painfully personal, for attending the King Memorial dedication.

“The first time I heard Dr. King’s 'I Have a Dream' speech in my middle school homeroom class, I cried,” said Sehon.  “Dr. King spoke eloquently; his dream was beautiful, and seemingly so simple: love thy neighbor, appreciate all people, be peaceful and kind.  With age, I realized it was more than a dream he spoke of, it was a responsibility, a job that my generation had to commit to continue.  Difficult though it seems, it’s an honorable job that I remain committed to with all respect and determination.

"Dr. King's speeches made me aware of a need in our society for young people to take a stand against injustice and inequality,” Sehon continued.  “His dreams for my generation gave me the confidence and sense of responsibility necessary to become engaged in my community and later the UK campus.  Honoring Dr. King's memory and work will be a satisfying and inspiring experience, one which I hope I can put to use raising awareness of social justice issues still being addressed in our community.”

Marshall commented, “This dedication not only means that we are acknowledging (King’s) efforts to make the world a better place, but that we are making the effort to continue his work. Going on this trip means that I can continue to do his work here at the University of Kentucky, and strive to change the climate of our campus for the better. …I just hope and pray that I can bring back just a tiny piece of the determination and passion that Dr. King had.”

Tapia, who was raised in a very small Mexican village, said that when he came to the U.S. and then eventually to UK, “Everything about being Latino and unique became fascinating, now I know that my heritage is more than something I check mark in the appropriate box, but it is something to be extremely proud of. An invitation to Washington, D.C., will allow me to share me to the world.”

“For me personally,” Bentley said, “growing up I never understood why there was such a big deal between different races. I went to a predominately African-American elementary school, but switching gears to middle school was like diving into a large melting pot. I didn't really know where I fit in because I made new friends that were white, among other races, and some of my black friends from elementary school didn't understand why I would befriend them.

“As we got older,” Bentley continued, “most of my peers grew out of the diversity shock and came to the realization that this is what our world is like. To this day I will always remember that uneasy time in middle school. Now that I look back on it, I'm glad that I had to face some adversity because it made me really appreciate the way things are today and how they became the way they are. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is such an astonishing man in the fact that he put himself, his family, and his people on the line to fight for his hopes and dreams for the future; having no idea what the future had in store for him or us. When I heard about this opportunity I jumped onto the application. If there is anything that I can ever do to try and repay Dr. King for his hard work and dedication to us then there's no hesitation.”

“As a young adult,” Lamb said, “I have made it my goal to do what should have been and will always need to be done … to educate our nation’s youth on the importance and necessity of tolerance.”

Those wishing to follow the experience of UK’s nine young pilgrims to the nation’s capital and the King Memorial Dedication Ceremonies, can visit their electronic-journal at http://www.facebook.com/pages/UK-CATalyst-Coalition/122506751122178.

Students who are inspired by this experience can get involved with the Catalyst Coalition. The Catalyst meets every Wednesday at 6:15 p.m. in 203 Student Center. All students are encouraged and welcome to attend the meetings.

MEDIA CONTACT:  Gail Hairston, (859) 257-3302 or gail.hairston@uky.edu