Syracuse University unveiled a new plaque Wednesday to pay tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Junior, who was murdered 50 years ago in Memphis, Tennessee. Dean of Hendricks Chapel Brian Konkol set the stage for the ceremony.
“Our program today not only possesses a significant date but also an important setting. As here the Shaffer art building galleria is next to the location where Dr. King spoke during a 1965 visit to Syracuse University.”
Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud was on hand for the ceremony. He says the plaque should serve as a reminder of King’s legacy.
“My greatest hope is that because of this plaque, generations of students and visitors to Syracuse University will have the curiosity to read and think about what Dr. King actually said here and to act on it.”
Syverud says he’s read a transcript of King’s speech and listened to a recently discovered audio recording. He says Dr. King focused on the need for economic opportunities and quality education for all people, regardless of race or status. King also described how neighborhoods and schools, even in northern cities, were still divided by race and wealth. Chancellor Syverud then recounted his memories of the day Dr. King died 50 years ago.
“I was at a Boy Scout meeting that terrible night in 1968 on the north side of the city of Rochester. My father came in, interrupted the meeting, to load me and my brother in the car and race us home. Because, in his words, all the anger and frustration that has been provoked in this city for decades is about to blow. And blow it eventually did, in Upstate New York, in Rochester. Not because people were mad at the south, people were mad about Rochester. They were mad about upstate, they were mad about the precious and true things that Dr. King had now died for.”
Syverud says while there’s been much progress, much of King’s speech still rings true today right here in Central New York. Following the event, the university participated in the National Civil Rights Museum’s call to remembrance by ringing the chimes of Hendricks Chapel 39 times to celebrate Dr. King’s 39 years of life.