2003 MLK Convocation
Confronting the Gap: Living the MLK Vision and Legacy Through Diversity and Acceptance

Leon Williams, Director of Intercultural Affairs at Buena Vista University in Iowa, will present a lecture titled “Shattered Dreams” at Otterbein College’s Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2003, in Cowan Hall, 30 S. Grove St., Westerville. The event is free and open to the public. It will be followed by a question and answer discussion on Martin Luther King Jr. ideologies.

Despite the focus on diversity and increased programming related to multiculturalism, research shows that students on campus across the country feel, in many ways, more divided than ever. According to statistics in “When Hope and Fear Collide” by Arthur Levine and Jeanette Cureton, diversity issues are the main cause of conflict between students on three out of five campuses surveyed.

Williams takes the sensitive issues of race, diversity and multiculturalism and injects them with humor, love and passion. His lecture “Shattered Dreams” asks the question, “What would Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. say today if he could make an addendum to his famous ‘I Have a Dream’ speech?”

As Director of Intercultural Affairs at Buena Vista University in Iowa, Williams has talked to student groups about such issues as oppression, interracial dating, racism, discrimination, black-on-black crimes, among many other issues. He does special programming for Black History Month and Martin Luther King Jr. Day. He is actively involved in his community as a volunteer for a local food pantry, Habitat for Humanity, a teen theatre group and the Special Olympics. He has also written and directed several plays, coordinated racism panels and lectured in the History/Political Science Department at Ohio Northern University.

In addition to the annual speaker, a variety of other activities will be held on campus. At 4 p.m. on Jan. 21, Williams will facilitate the Outside the Circle Diversity Workshop in room 212 of Roush Hall, 27 S. Grove St., Westerville. A candlelight vigil will be held at 7 p.m. on Jan. 21 in the Otterbein College Chapel, at the northeast corner of N. Grove St. and Cochran Alley in Westerville. A special Java Night will be held at 8 p.m. on Jan. 23 in the Campus Center, 100 W. Home St., Westerville. All events are free and open to the public.

For a full calendar of Otterbein events for Black History Month, the Coordinator of Ethnic Diversity at (614) 823-1250.