Boston University spent its first day off of the semester celebrating one of its most famous alumni: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
About 300 BU students and faculty members filled Metcalf Hall Monday to celebrate King’s birthday anniversary and commemorate his legacy.
Speakers, dance groups, musicians and scholars gathered to honor King in an annual celebration that included their performances and the reading of excerpts from King’s Nobel Prize ‘I Have a Dream’ speech.
The theme for the celebration this year was ‘Only Love,’ one of the main principles that King stood for.
‘Give some thought to the deeper, more intricate meanings of love,’ Howard Thurman Center Director Katherine Kennedy told the audience.
Speakers included Rwanda’s former President of Parliament and author of ‘God Sleeps in Rwanda’ Joseph Sebarenzi, who said he attended the event because he was greatly affected by King’s teachings.
‘Little acts of kindness that we can do every day in our daily lives, I believe, can make a difference,’ he said.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day was first celebrated as a federal holiday in 1986 to honor King’s birthday. King received his Ph.D. from BU’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in 1955. Celebrations of his life and legacy are held as a holiday on the third Monday of January.
Sebarenzi spoke about his experiences during the genocide of the Tutsi people in Rwanda in the early 1990s, showing pictures of various family members, including his parents and all seven of his siblings, who had been killed.
‘I am very humbled by this experience,’ Sebarenzi said. ‘And I think he would be very happy with society today. We still have some work to do, but the big chunk of it is done.’
College of Arts and Sciences senior and president of the Inner Strength Gospel Choir Matlin Gilman said he was moved by the pictures.
‘The pictures were powerful,’ he said. ‘The suffering that they went through was heart-wrenching to think about.’
The Gospel Choir and members of the REACH! Dance Ensemble gave performances throughout the celebration.
The Gospel Choir sang ‘Unity Medley’ and ‘The Living Word of God.’
REACH! members performed a number to ‘Burn in my Light’ by J-Tight which portrayed King’s principles of strength, oppression, power and friendship through dance.
Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore spoke about the influence of King’s life and how people can learn from the peaceful message he advocated.
‘Love can be the basis of our progress,’ he said. ‘Dr. King stood up for love. He had a clean-cut approach to love and its power and ability to confront.’
A video accompanied Elmore’s message, focusing on how people can live with love and compassion for others.
Many students said they were moved by the message of the celebration that honored King, one of BU’s most distinguished alumni.
‘Today is a day to think about Martin Luther King’s legacy and what he left behind,’ CAS junior and Hug Don’t Hate Vice President Patricia Garrity said. ‘The real thing is to reflect on what he would have wanted.’
‘I am from Nigeria and the northern part has religious uprising,’ attendee Dotun Adio said. ‘So I have many friends who have lost family members. It really hit home.’