January 3, 2001

SMU STUDENTS TO REMEMBER MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

DALLAS (SMU) -- In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, students at Southern Methodist University have planned several activities to raise awareness of his legacy and the importance of civil rights.

SMU's MLK Week is Jan. 16-19. The SMU celebration, "MLK -- Make Life Kount," will examine issues of discrimination, community involvement and the future of American race relations. Each day audio recordings of King's famous speeches will be broadcast in the Commons area of the Hughes-Trigg Student Center, 3140 Dyer. MLK Week is the result of planning by a student group sponsored by the university's Department of Intercultural Education and Minority Student Affairs.

The week-long celebration will culminate in a Unity Walk in which members of various student organizations representing different racial and ethnic groups link arms and march across the SMU campus.

The events are free and open to the public. For more information about each event, contact Karen Click at the SMU Department of Intercultural Education and Minority Student Affairs at (214) 768-4582.

• "Candlelight Vigil at the Flagpole," Tuesday, Jan. 16 from 7 to 8 p.m. at the SMU main flagpole. Student will gather to share thoughts on civil rights. Speakers are Courtney A. Niswander, student body secretary; Jodi, M. Warmbrod, Student Senate chief of staff; Jennifer A. Passow, assistant dean of Student Life; and Everett Winters, director of Affirmative Action.
• "Wall of Hope," Wednesday, Jan. 17 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Commons area. At this event, students will be encouraged to write their own positive messages of hope for the future and place them on a special wall.
• "Keep On Dreaming," Wednesday, Jan 17 from 7 to 8 p.m. in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Varsity area. SMU political science Professor Matthew Wilson and history Professor Glenn Linden will discuss the past, present and future of Dr. King's dream.
• "Dr. King and SMU," Thursday, Jan 18 from 7 to 8 p.m. in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Forum. Members of Alpha Phi Alpha, Dr. King's fraternity, will discuss his historic visit to SMU in the 1960s.
• "Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes Video and Discussion," Thursday, Jan. 18 from 8 to 10 p.m. in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Theater. Students will discuss a consciousness-raising exercise based on the groundbreaking 1968 "Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes" experiment in discrimination that Iowa teacher Jane Elliott conducted with her all-white fourth graders. Cosponsored by the SMU Residence Hall Association.
• "MLK Unity Walk," Friday, Jan 19 from noon to 1 p.m. beginning at the SMU main flagpole. SMU Provost Ross Murfin will lead the annual SMU Unity Walk in which members of various student organizations representing different racial and ethnic groups will link arms and march across the campus.