While most Dallas-area citizens plan to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with a day away from work or class next week, SMU’s Office of Multicultural Student Affairs has arranged a full week of activities in memory of King, called “Dream Week.”
The celebration will direct attention to the rich accomplishments of King, who advocated equal rights for blacks in the 1960s and delivered one of the most famous speeches in history, “I Have A Dream.”
Staffers and students associated with the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs are planning daily events to help celebrate the civil rights visionary’s legacy, including a diversity talk entitled “Dream or Nightmare: How far have we come since the MLK speech” and a keynote address from a special guest.
King visited Dallas on March 17, 1966, making a speech at SMU. Back then, he spoke about the progress that needed to be made in terms of racial equality. True to form, King said “we’ve broken loose from the Egypt of slavery, we’re in the wilderness of segregation and on the borderlands of integration” to a packed McFarlin Auditorium crowd.
A reporter from the university periodical, then called The Daily Campus, wrote that King “trace[d] the history of rights campaign” in his speech and highlighted his rejection of resorting to violence in his efforts. At the SMU campus in 1966, King called for action, begging audience members to “become involved participants instead of silent onlookers” before ending his speech, saying, “no lie can live forever.”
Creston Lynch, director of the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs, said “Dream Week” is meant to “build a sense of community” among SMU faculty, staff, and students.
He said the world would be a better place if everyone adopted the values that King championed, and their mission is to observe King’s legacy. But unlike some events commemorating King, “Dream Week” is not meant to focus only on issues of race and ethnicity.
Among the notions that the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs will promote during “Dream Week” are equal access to education and non-discrimination toward students of various socioeconomic backgrounds and sexual orientations.
“[King] reached so far beyond a specific color. We want to make sure we highlight all areas of social justice and civil rights,” Lynch said, all-encompassing “social justice” being, what he believes, the essence of King’s message.
Lynch said he is looking forward to each event because his office’s goal is to facilitate an environment where students can “find different levels of common ground.”
“We’re really excited about it. We want our students to be able to relate to the civil rights movement,” he said.
One way students can connect with the past will be the keynote speech from Cheryl Brown Henderson. She is one of the late Rev. Oliver L. Brown’s three daughters, and her father, with 12 other parents led by the NAACP, were the plaintiffs in the 1954 landmark Brown v. Board Supreme Court case.
Lynch said that having one of Brown's daughters speak to students will make a lasting impression.
“Having Cheryl… gives a face to the history that we’ve heard,” he said.
During the “conversation for diversity” event, students and faculty will discuss the progress made since King’s death. Lynch said despite notable momentum in the past few decades, social justice and equality is a continuing fight.
“I think the greater question would be whether [King] would be happy with where we are,” he said.
Lynch said the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs has been spreading the word about "Dream Week" via social media, SMU publications, and email blasts.
No matter how big the turnout, he is looking forward to all the events during “Dream Week.”
“Every program is going to make a significant contribution to what we’re trying to accomplish,” he said.
He hopes the week’s calendar will allow the SMU community reflect on King’s legacy and message.
“Dr. King’s vision was not black and white; he dreamed in color,” Lynch said.
For more information on the “Dream Week” calendar of events, click here.