Speech delves into King's goal
Greg Sullivan
Issue date: 2/3/06 Section: News
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Unity House hosted a talk called "Martin Luther King, Jr.: Have We Failed?" Jan. 27 in an effort to keep open discussion surrounding King following the holiday in his name.
Kijev "K" Gurley, a graduate student who assists in the Unity House, spoke about the life of King and then led a discussion with the members of the audience.
The talk, which drew 14 people, opened with a PowerPoint presentation covering key points in the life of King to the background of gospel music played by an organ. Gurley began the talk by introducing himself and then saying, "The purpose of the talk is to discuss [King's] legacy, but not like how we usually do, but about how we have failed or fallen short."
He went on to draw on the Bible and a story from the Gospel of John about Jesus' ministry to outsiders, specifically a Sumerian woman - a group with whom Jews of the time had few willing encounters. Gurley drew several parallels between King and Jesus, both for their life work and for King's faith.
He also emphasized the need for Gonzaga to reach out and be active in the community. He ended the 25-minute talk saying, "We need to be about love and compassion."
A discussion followed in which several students and staff, including Bob Bartlett, director of multicultural education and Unity House, and Raymond Reyes, associate vice president for diversity, were able to share their opinions about whether Gonzaga is doing the best job it can to better the community and provide the outreach addressed in Gurley's speech.
During the discussion, which lasted over an hour, participants primarily focused on the interplay between faith and service, and individuals and change within organizations, communities or larger bodies. Whether Gonzaga is isolated from the community at large came up numerous times.
"I think Gonzaga is a phenomenal school, with phenomenal students and phenomenal people," Gurley said, "but we don't reach out to the 'other.' I've walked two blocks north, south, east and west, and it's a whole different world."
Kijev "K" Gurley, a graduate student who assists in the Unity House, spoke about the life of King and then led a discussion with the members of the audience.
The talk, which drew 14 people, opened with a PowerPoint presentation covering key points in the life of King to the background of gospel music played by an organ. Gurley began the talk by introducing himself and then saying, "The purpose of the talk is to discuss [King's] legacy, but not like how we usually do, but about how we have failed or fallen short."
He went on to draw on the Bible and a story from the Gospel of John about Jesus' ministry to outsiders, specifically a Sumerian woman - a group with whom Jews of the time had few willing encounters. Gurley drew several parallels between King and Jesus, both for their life work and for King's faith.
He also emphasized the need for Gonzaga to reach out and be active in the community. He ended the 25-minute talk saying, "We need to be about love and compassion."
A discussion followed in which several students and staff, including Bob Bartlett, director of multicultural education and Unity House, and Raymond Reyes, associate vice president for diversity, were able to share their opinions about whether Gonzaga is doing the best job it can to better the community and provide the outreach addressed in Gurley's speech.
During the discussion, which lasted over an hour, participants primarily focused on the interplay between faith and service, and individuals and change within organizations, communities or larger bodies. Whether Gonzaga is isolated from the community at large came up numerous times.
"I think Gonzaga is a phenomenal school, with phenomenal students and phenomenal people," Gurley said, "but we don't reach out to the 'other.' I've walked two blocks north, south, east and west, and it's a whole different world."