College Holding Events to Honor MLK's Legacy

Breakfast to mark 50th Anniversary of Dr. King

The College of the Holy Cross will hold a special celebration “Sharing the Dream: 50 Years Later,” in honor of the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s visit to the College, on Tuesday, Jan. 22, from 7:45 to 9 a.m. in the Hogan Campus Center Ballroom.  All students, faculty, staff and administrators are welcome to attend.

The event, sponsored by the Diversity Leadership Team and the Office of Multicultural Education, will include reflection and song.  A continental breakfast will be served.  RSVP to Tom Cadigan (tcadigan@holycross.edu) by Jan. 16. 

Students in the Cross and Scroll Society, a group who brings distinguished speakers to the College, invited Dr. King to speak on campus. The Civil Rights leader accepted, and came to Holy Cross with his wife, Coretta, on Nov. 9, 1962. Dr. King addressed a crowd of 1,500 students, faculty and Worcester residents in the Fieldhouse.  

Dr. King’s visit to campus made “The Top 25 Moments in Holy Cross History,” a cover story in the Spring 2012 issue of Holy Cross Magazine.  Steve Bashwiner ’63 and Jerry King ’63, who were both members of the Cross and Scroll Society, shared their powerful memories of the evening MLK came to the Hill in an essay for Holy Cross Magazine, “The Night I Met Dr. King.” On Monday, Jan. 21, the College will hold its annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Luncheon as part of the “Aptissimi: The Leadership Conference,” which invites student leaders to explore, develop and articulate their personal leadership styles, and one of a number of annual events sponsored by the “Hate: Not Here!” anti-bias committee. Aptissimi comes from a Jesuit philosophy of developing “as many as possible of the very best.”