Student leaders gather to celebrate King's Dream

By Maureen Kolodziej
Collegian Editor
January 24, 2007

While most college students saw Martin Luther King Day as an extra day off after the winter break, other students saw it as a day to follow in the footsteps of one of the greatest leaders of all time.

Community Development took the time and energy to plan a day to honor Martin Luther King. Jr. at La Salle, hoping to foster King’s message throughout the school community.

La Salle has hosted its annual King’s Dream workshop for eight years in a row not only to honor Martin Luther King, but also to promote acceptance, diversity and tolerance around campus.

However, this is the first year the day was geared specifically for student leaders. Associate Director of Community Development and the Co-Chair for King’s Dream, Dawn Ohanessian, said that students were nominated in November to attend this event.

“The turnout may have been lower this year, but that’s only because we were narrowing the focus,” she said. “It’s actually a good thing.”

The day began with guest Peter Vogel, who started a group called Culture Prep. He travels to different schools and companies promoting tolerance and diversity in a presentation he calls “The Safe to Relate Town Hall Meeting.”

Vogel began by saying that although we have come a long way in King’s eyes, we as a society still have a ways to go. There still are prejudice, discrimination and barriers among us.

Still, Vogel does not disregard his efforts for making King’s day such a special day.

“Nothing will stop the joy and authenticity on this day, Martin Luther King’s birthday,” he said.

He continued to involve students with an interactive activity, asking them to stand up and pretend King was standing in front of the Dan Rodden Theatre. Students and faculty were to “expose something about themselves that is preventing their relationship with the other.”

“I would ask to get rid of the chip on my shoulder so that people wouldn’t question me and think, ‘What do you know? You’re just some goofy white guy,” he said.

Vogel’s purpose was to show the audience that it is easy to talk about all the bad in the world, but it takes a lot to say what people would do to make things better.

In addition, Vogel showed clips from movies such as Keeping the Faith, and Remember the Titans, to demonstrate diversity and acceptance.

Sophomore communication major Jenna Hawn, who is a member of Alpha Sigma Tau (AST) and secretary of the Inner Ferternity/Sorority Council (IFSC), found the day’s events very helpful.

“I thought it was an eye-opening experience,” she said. “I learned a lot about trusting and communicating with others.”

After the “Town Hall Meeting,” students were invited to attend any of the 10 breakout sessions available. The sessions last for about a half hour each.

Some sessions focused on some of King’s speeches, others focused on interpreting a series of photos in accordance with one’s dream and sharing them, while one session talked about Plato’s Cave and social justice.

Following the sessions, students listened to the words of ’03 graduate Joanna McClinton and were served dinner in the Union Ballroom.

McClinton is a recent graduate of Villanova Law School and is still active in the African American Alumni Association.

“I began La Salle as a shy 17-year-old, but graduated as an emerging leader of our global village,” she said. “My life was transformed through participating in all La Salle offered

“McClinton gave a really great speech,” Danielle Forsythe, a junior and secondary education major and member of AST said. “One thing McClinton said that I thought was really good was that there are too many good people that remain silent and do not speak out on what they believe, and that this can in some ways be more harmful than the unjust actions of those around us.”

Ohanessian, co-chair of King’s Dream, agrees with McClinton and Forsythe that students need to do something to make the world better, even if it wasn’t as dramatic as King’s action.

“I hope this program was a good start for the topic of social justice and diversity,” she said. “I hope it doesn’t stop here. I hope people take it a step farther and put it into action.”

kolodziejm1@lasalle.edu