Dear Editor:

Ms. Snyder’s editorial regarding the observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is prompting me to offer the following thoughts.

On April 2, 1968, a dreamy afternoon, I sat under the magnolia which edges the lawn in front of Holmdene and wrote a lyric poem. Two days later, my sensibilities were shattered when word reached us that the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. had been shot. One of my friends in Regina Hall, a black woman from Mississippi, went missing for days; presumably because her grief and outrage were so deep that she couldn’t bear to look at her white friends’ faces.

In 1983, MLK, Jr. Day became a national holiday. The administration of Aquinas College at that time considered what would be the appropriate way to honor the drum major of the civil rights movement and other martyrs of the era. How would MLK want us to observe his day? Would he want us to discuss his ideals within a classroom setting? Or to hold public gatherings? Or to cancel classes, stay home and watch television, as sometimes happens on other solemn holidays? The decision was made to best honor Dr. King by continuing our educational endeavors on his day.

Should the decision be re-examined from time to time? Perhaps. But, please don’t automatically assume the worst motives.

Sincerely,

Patricia Kozal
Class of 1970