University President Henry Bienen said Friday that Northwestern will continue to consider race when admitting students, a response to President Bush’s comments condemning the University of Michigan’s admissions process.
“We believe firmly that the pursuit of racial diversity among students, faculty and staff is related to our educational mandate to achieve the highest order of excellence in the work of the university,” Bienen said at the annual memorial forum and candlelight vigil celebrating the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Bienen’s past speeches for the event, which kicked off MLK Day celebrations on the Evanston Campus, have reflected on King’s life and legacy. The NU president used this year’s speech to defend the university’s affirmative action initiatives, in light of recent events in Washington.
NU’s admissions boards take race into account as one of the many criteria in accepting an applicant, which Bienen said is necessary to achieve racial diversity.
“We will be committed to these policies, and we will argue for their importance,” Bienen said. “And I believe in this endeavor we are in the spirit and belief of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.”
Classes will be canceled universitywide between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m today so students can attend the MLK Day keynote speeches on the Chicago and Evanston Campuses.
Princeton University Prof. Cornel West will speak at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall on a first-come, first-serve seating basis. His speech, “Race Matters,” will be broadcast live to Coon Forum and Ryan Family Auditorium.
Meanwhile, R&B legend and civil rights activist Stevie Wonder will address the Chicago Campus at 11 a.m. in Thorne Auditorium.
Also today the Crain lecture series will present Ernest C. Withers at 4 p.m. at the McCormick Tribune Center. Withers has photographed the civil rights movement for more than 50 years.
The Friday forum and vigil featured keynote speaker Jeffrey Johnson, national director of the youth, college and young adult division for the NAACP.
Speaking in a booming voice to about 100 NU and Evanston community members at the Alice Millar Chapel, Johnson lamented the low emphasis on black history in the U.S. school system, as well as the attention given to the education of black youths in general.
“We have high school students who have cell phones but can’t conjugate a verb,” Johnson said. “They know all the dance steps, but they can’t walk across the stage to graduate.”
When we fail to teach black children about their history, Johnson said, they are left without positive role models. Instead, they emulate black movie and music stars, who Johnson said have not benefited the black community in the same way King did.
“We are asking them to remember something they have never been taught,” Johnson said of students involved in MLK Day events.
Peals of applause erupted several times during Johnson’s speech, which praised King’s leadership and vision while challenging the audience to constantly remember all the people who contributed to black rights, not just this one man one day each year.
“He showed that there is a lot there, a lot of history among African Americans, that the movement goes much further back than just Rev. King,” said Tony Hickombottom, Alpha Phi Alpha president.
Johnson also criticized many MLK Day events that had become “patronizing” rather than “celebrating.” Later, he prompted people to move from celebration to action.
“If you want the freedom bell to ring, you are going to have to ring it yourselves,” Johnson said, also asking those in attendance how they were going “to remember who Dr. King was.”
The forum and vigil headlined by Johnson was started 24 years ago by Alpha Phi Alpha Inc. and was the first event at NU to honor King.
Unlike past years when the vigil and forum were held separately, Alpha Phi Alpha decided to present the two events together this year to encourage attendance, said George Spencer, the fraternity’s MLK Day chairman.
Despite the extreme cold Friday, Spencer, a Communications sophomore, said more people than last year attended the event.
