Panel examines issues

Discussion about accessibility to education and employment, affirmative action and the influence of the entertainment industry kept more than 700 people engaged for four hours yesterday during the first-ever MLK Colloquium at the University.

The colloquium, one of 103 events included in the annual University symposium honoring the life of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. - now recognized as the country's largest campus MLK celebration - attracted individuals with various perspectives and from various backgrounds.

For the majority of the afternoon, audience members, one facilitator and seven panelists, ranging from Theodore Shaw - associate director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. - to rap artist and noted political activist Chuck D challenged each other with unique viewpoints.

MLK Program Coordinator Tara Young said the colloquium was organized with the intention of offering audience members more one-on-one interaction between panelists and each other about numerous pressing topics.

"I want people to get some information and struggle with this," Young said. "That's something they're not going to be able to get from a panel with no interaction at depth."

In addition to the larger discussion and Q & A periods, the audience of at least 700 people broke into smaller groups to more comprehensively examine various areas, including "Affirmative Action and Higher Education Policy" and "Native American Law," and later reconvened to summarize each groups' discussions.

Chuck D, who facilitated the group that focused on the entertainment industry's influences and other related issues, said large corporations constantly barrage people with "fantasy world" projections, therefore skewing the messages received in the communities.

Instead of emphasizing individuals in their immediate communities who strive to make positive changes, developing children form bonds with these "fantasy" images, Chuck D said.

Colloquium facilitator and Harvard Law Prof. Charles Ogletree created a hypothetical situation depicting Bob, a white working-class father, who questioned his future access to job opportunities and his child's access to education. Ogletree said people shouldn't feel discouraged by any current backlash against affirmative action because the system is part of a progressive process.

"I think we have to take some joy in struggle because life is struggle and we have to be proud that we're on the right side of the struggle," Ogletree said.

Education first-year student Steve Hernandez, a member of the MLK Day planning committee, said the most productive use of the colloquium is as a catalyst.

"I just don't want this to be the experience," Hernandez said. "The experience is what people do after they leave," which may not be noticed for one week, for one year or for 10 years.

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