Annual breakfast honors King

In the meeting room of DuBois College House, a mural on one of the walls reads, "Uplift Yourself; Teach the Children Unity, Love: A Foundation to Build Upon." It's perhaps fitting that the mural appears in the very same room where the late Martin Luther King, Jr. was honored with an annual breakfast and discussion at DuBois in the first of many similar events commemorating the world-renowned civil rights leader. Though yesterday was the first day of the spring semester, more than 100 Penn students, faculty members and area high school students gathered inside a packed room at DuBois to honor the life and remember the goals of the renowned civil rights leader, who was assassinated in 1968. This year's program, which University Chaplain William Gipson said was the most "most well-attended it has ever been," featured a keynote address from a Penn professor, remakrs from University President Judith Rodin and a musical selection by a Penn a cappella group. In her keynote address, entitled "The Importance of King's Philosophy and Action for the 21st Century," Farrah Griffin, undergraduate chair of the English Department, urged her audience to "look to a different King," noting that most Americans do not acknowledge the complexities of a man whose "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963 has often been reduced to meaningless clichZs. Illustrating the depth and importance of King's lesser known writings, Griffin criticized opponents of affirmative action who claim the policy contradicts King's famous speech -- which stressed by taking into account one's skin color. Quoting from one of King's writings, Griffin argued that he did believe such policies should be implemented. The professor went on to offer the more controversial view that he would have advocated a comprehensive form of reparations for the descendents of slaves. Dr. Griffin expressed her support for such compensation but did not go into detail. One listener, a former professor of molecular biology at Penn, believed that compensation should be offered in the form of more educational opportunities for minority children and college graduates. "There is a particular need at a place like Penn to encourage minority students to go to graduate school," Professor Emeritus Robert Rutman said. Professor Griffin, expanding on the importance of understanding King in a context beyond his "Dream" speech, discussed the possibility of forming interactive reading and discussion groups among Penn students and faculty, and encouraged her audience to look beyond the normal forms of community service and engage in real social change. President Rodin, following up on this call for social change, told her listeners "There is much more we can do... as a university to push Dr. King's vision" and surprised everyone in attendance by announcing plans to ask the Faculty University Planning Committee to declare Dr. King's birthday a university holiday. Richard Adzei, a Penn senior on the Martin Luther King Executive Planning Committee, exclaimed, "I've waited four years and I'm so happy to hear that the University's finally going to recognize this day." Charmelia Bond, a freshman in the College, agreed that "This day shouldn't just go by." Along with the two main speakers, Penn's Christian a capella group, Full Measure, performed a moving rendition of "Why Have You Chosen Me." And Marcus Golson, a nine year old student at Cornerstone Christian Academy, stood before this crowd of over one hundred and passionately recited passages from King's "Dream" speech. In addition to Penn students and faculty, several area high school students attended the program. Myrna Aviles, a recent immigrant and junior at Olney High School, said she learned a lot about King at school in Puerto Rico and especially admired him for "what he did to fight racists." Smiling, she said, "I like that."