Reporter Volume 25, No.19 March 3, 1994

By BETHANY GLADKOWSKI
Reporter Staff
We have forgotten how to "celebrate life," Bernice King,  daughter of
slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., told a Slee Hall
audience Feb. 24.
	As keynote speaker for the 18th annual Martin Luther King, Jr.
Commemoration, King said that too many people have forgotten the great
achievements represented by Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. 
	"If we're going to do justice to Dr. King's legacy and truly
celebrate it, then we must be honestly committed  to the elimination
of those things in our society which prohibit life--poverty, racism,
and war," said King, quoting her father's teachings.
	Youngest daughter of Coretta Scott King and Martin Luther
King, Jr., Bernice King gave her first public oration at the age of 17
to the United Nations. She is both an attorney-at-law and an ordained
minister for the Greater Rising Star Baptist Church in Atlanta and
serves as a role model to at-risk youths through AMEN (Active
Ministers Engaged in Nurturing) which she co-founded. She has been
cited by "Ebony" magazine as one of the "50 Leaders of Tomorrow."
	President William R. Greiner introduced the keynote speaker 
	Addressing the problems of  poverty in the U.S., King said
that "we are in critical condition." Describing the U.S. as a "nation
divided between the haves and the have-nots," King said that economic
and social strategists are "putting Band-Aids on wounds that have been
festering for years. 
	The poverty-stricken are victims of the economic system, she
said. Social and economic policy-makers are to blame for creating
situations which leave people in poverty, said King. In order to fight
it, each individual must take an active part in holding politicians
responsible to their constituents, said King.
	Although King said that Clinton's presidency was "hopeful,"
another wave of social change is inevitable, she believes. She cited
the social movements centered in Selma, Montgomery, and Birmingham
which spurred Presidents Kennedy and Johnson to pass civil rights
laws, as examples of what organized groups could accomplish.
	King also discussed violence as an institutionalized problem
in the U.S. "Something is wrong [with a system] when a policeman can
beat a man to death and get away with it," she said. "Too many babies
die before their first year--350,000 of our young people take guns to
school every day. Every 14 hours a child under the age of five is
murdered in America," she said. King said that the competitive
attitude of our society is to blame for fueling violence.
	As an antidote to this institutionalized violence, King said,
everyone must "build bridges" to work together, and should
"internalize Dr. King's philosophy of non-violence and love.
	 "Sit up, stand up, but never shut up," she said toward the
end of a speech puntuated with phrases from her father's speeches.
	Honored at the commemoration were Lucia Almeida and Bronya
Boykin, who  each received  Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship Awards
of $500. The award is based on personal and academic achievement
consistent with the spirit and philosophy of Dr. King.
	Bronya Boykin will graduate in May, 1995 with a special major
B.A. She plans to attend medical school. Maintaining a 3.5 GPA, Boykin
does research at Roswell Park Cancer Institute as well as volunteer
work at St. Phillips and Kensington High Schools. 
	Lucia Almeida is a transfer student through  EOP (Equal
Opportunity Program) and is enrolled in the Nursing program. She
plans to graduate in May, 1996. Almeida is also a member of the Golden
Key Honor Society and has received the Academic Medal of Excellence
Award and the SA Service Award. With a GPA of 3.65, she does volunteer
work for the homeless.
	Both Almeida and Boykin are scholars in  the McNair program,
which  prepares first generation and low income students for doctoral
study through GRE seminars and assistance in research projects with
faculty members.
	 Musical selections for the program were performed by Gary
Burgess, director of University Opera Workshop and associate
professor of music.