During several days from December 1959 to January 1960, Martin Luther King Jr. attended a conference at Ohio University, addressing the crowd on several occasions. Three years later, he led the famous March on Washington. Only five years after that, he was assassinated while standing on his hotel’s second-floor balcony in Memphis. Forty-five years after his death, the effects of his legacy are still felt on our campus and throughout the nation.
King paved the way for not only students of color but also many other progressive minority movements. We believe Athens and OU to be an exceptionally tolerant environment where students are free to express themselves as they see fit — something that has been evidenced in an increasing amount of interest from students around the globe.
Craig Cornell, OU’s vice provost for enrollment management, said the university has seen “continued growth in the number of countries students are applying from” in an interview for today’s front page story about application numbers. Again, that might not have been possible without the groundwork laid by King.
Our collegiate years are ones in which we have a great opportunity to cohabitate a campus with individuals from all walks of life, and we would like to take this opportunity to thank King once again for giving all of us the opportunity to do so.
We encourage you to take a look at the article on the front page today (and its continuation on Page 4) enumerating the week’s worth of events the university has planned to celebrate the federal holiday commemorating King’s birthday. Among the activities you will find a documentary screening at The Athena Cinema, a guest speaker from Columbia University and a silent march hosted by members of Alpha Phi Alpha. Throughout the week, you can stop by the third floor of Baker Center to view a collection of photos, articles and artifacts detailing the African-American student experience at OU during the Civil Rights Movement.
As college students, we tend to live in the present and look to the future. Every once in a while, it does us some good to reflect on the past and remember the people who helped get us here.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post’s executive editors
