Editorial

Author: [no author name found]

This past week has been an exciting one for Middlebury students. Our bucolic Vermont campus has been galvanized anew by the zeitgeist surrounding the inauguration of the nation's next president.

Whomever we supported in last fall's election, we followed Tuesday's events, enraptured, because we knew that we were watching history in action; that we were experiencing a sea change in the tide of American culture. Even though we could not - cannot - articulate precisely how that change will unfold, we talked giddily amongst ourselves and fixed eager eyes on our televisions, hoping to catch a glimpse into that uncertain but exciting future.

Yet despite Tuesday's energy, we are saddened that some of us who were so absorbed by Barack Obama's inauguration also left unremembered another important celebration: the honoring of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his legacy. Just as many see the president's election as a culmination of the civil rights movement, so do many believe that Obama's victory would have been impossible without King.

Though the organizers of the Martin Luther King Day schedule at Middlebury put together an unprecedented and dynamic program of lectures, screenings and workshops, some of these activities were noticeably under-attended. The modest size of the audience at the celebration's keynote address - a moving historical tribute delivered by renowned poet and playwright Sonia Sanchez - was particularly disappointing.

Earlier this academic year, we applauded on these very pages the impressive student turnout brought by "lecture season" but lamented the dearth of suitable venues on campus to accommodate those high levels of interest. Now we find ourselves wrestling with quite a different predicament. Did we, as students, overlook the MLK Day events because we have become, despite our best intentions, somewhat distracted in our Obama-mania?

Dr. King once urged Americans to adopt a national consciousness that judged people based not on the color of their skin, but on the content of their character. This week, many are celebrating because they believe King's dream to have been fulfilled. But let us remember that President Obama's succession to this nation's highest office represents not a triumphant end to King's campaign for justice and equality, but rather, another step on the path. Today, Obama has given America new hope for a new future. Let us channel that hope into a continued endeavor for progress - both here on this campus, and beyond.