WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-Middlebury College Memorializes Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Middlebury College Memorializes Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Middlebury, Vermont - January 21, 2008

A joyful celebration punctuated by moments of thoughtful reflection, Middlebury College's tenth annual Martin Luther King Jr. celebration emphasized the need to continue the civil rights leader's legacy.

"He sometimes forced us to confront some deep and often troubling questions about our commitment as a society to the fundamental ideas upon which this nation was founded," said Governor Jim Douglas, R-Vermont.

Guest speaker Vijay Prashad, a professor at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., stripped away the usually rosy reflection on King's life and asked everyone to remember that full equality has not been reached. Prashad said to truly complete King's work there needs to be less focus on multiculturalism, which he said emphasizes differences, and more focus on creating a global community.

"The concept was freedom, or to give that empty word some meaning, a culture of solidarity and equality," said Prashad.

Prashad and the other speakers looked to broaden the reach of King's dream. Shirley Ramirez, the college's Dean for Institutional Diversity, said the campus and town took action this weekend to put an end to a number of "isms" and inequalities. They walked, "for gay rights, for immigrants, for health care, for environmental justice and activism, anti-sexism, anti-racism and so many other movements," she said.

Prashad said the need for everyday people to take action is still great because, he pointed out, "King was drawn into an epochal study not by theory alone, nor by the drive of his social gospel, but by the brave resilience of everyday people who became extraordinary people in the struggle."

Now Middlebury hopes its students and teachers will take that lesson and incorporate it into their everyday lives.

Bianca Slota - WCAX News