2008 Woodie Awards
MLK Celebration Closes With Dinner
Daniel Barber/Muleskinner
Issue date: 1/18/07 Section: News
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Nine high school students and five Central students were recipients of the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Scholarship.
The Association of African American Faculty and the Staff at UCM founded the Freedom Scholarship in 1994, and this year, $11,000 was raised.
The dinner also celebrated 10 years on Central's campus.
Hughes started his speech by asking what diversity truly means, and how can people help keep King's dream alive.
"Working together," Hughes said, "would keep Dr. King's dream alive.
"We can't do it alone. We all have to work together to make a difference. Even Dr. King was not alone. He had a rainbow of people behind him.
"We have to change the world," Hughes added.
Hughes talked about carrying the torch for King by embracing diversity, being apart of the community, forging new friendships,and by being innovative and unique on the world stage.
Integration in education was also a talking point for Hughes.
"We need to think about integration at all levels of education," Hughes said, "for students to learn from a more diverse curriculum. By doing so, students can learn about the beauty and diversity of America throughout history. "
Eugene Stillman, interim director of community engagement and campus advocate for students, thought the event was a success in celebrating the holiday.
"I thought the event went amazingly well, and everybody did great," he said. "We had the United States Color Guard come all the way from Kansas City.
"Leonard Hughes did absolutely well with his speech, and the scholarship recipients and a lot of the parents I talked to were very appreciative."
Stillman said the dinner helps to keep the spirit of King by giving out scholarships so everyone has an equal opportunity to higher education.
"Dr. King's message was equality for all people," Stillman said. "So we think the dinner is important especially in the education realm because equality in education is important.
"In keeping up with that spirit, we wanted to make education a little more affordable for some people. We are concerned and compassionate about students, and it lets the students know that we really do care about all students getting a better education.
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