[ Applause ]
>> Nikkita McPherson: Good evening staff, students, alumni, faculty, administrators,
community members, distinguished guests, Dean Johnson, and President Folt.
It is my pleasure to welcome you to Dartmouth College's annual celebration of the life
and legacy of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. My name is Nikkita McPherson,
member of the Class of 2013, and president of the Afro-American Society.
I am honored to be your master of ceremonies this evening.
It is now my pleasure to introduce Dr. Carol Folt the president --
the Dartmouth professor of biological sciences and Dartmouth's interim president.
Last July, Dr. Folt became the first woman to serve as the president of Dartmouth College.
[ Applause ]
She's a deeply committed educator, researcher,
and longstanding member of the Dartmouth community.
In her time at Dartmouth she has held many leadership positions,
taught thousands of students, and is leading Dartmouth's first comprehensive community-wide
strategic planning process.
She says that of particular significance to her are her relationships
with many undergraduate and graduate students.
She has mentored personally and the hundreds of faculty and staff who has -- who she has --
who have become long -- life-long friends personally, and hundreds -- and colleagues.
Sorry. That is probably why she continues, even as president, to mentor students, faculty,
and staff as well as to remain active as a research scientist.
President Folt is especially pleased to speak tonight at our celebration
of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. She feels it is one of the most powerful
and inspirational annual celebrations not only at Dartmouth but in this country.
Her own commitment to diversity, inclusivity, social equality,
and justice has always been a focus of her career.
As a researcher, she studies issues of relevance
to environmental justice including global claimant change and effects
of mercury and arsenic on human health.
In her roles as faculty member and administrator she always has actively worked
to increase inclusivity, to foster environments for learning and living that thrive
across difference, and to help people reach their greatest potential.
Among her highest current priorities is the development and integration
of a community-wide diversity plan which figures as a key issue in the strategic planning process
that will help shape Dartmouth's future for the next 250 years.
Please join me in welcoming President Folt.
[ Applause ]
>> Dr. Folt: Hello, everyone.
I'm very honored to greet you on this day, which is a very special day
when our nation is celebrating the legacy and the impact of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr., and the inauguration of President Barack Obama,
the nation's first African-American president, for his second term.
[ Applause ]
On such a day, I must start with gratitude.
Gratitude, of course, to Reverend King for his legacy of leadership and civil action
and his gift of transformative language that has been so empowering.
And I have to start by expressing gratitude to the people in our own community
who are dedicating themselves every single day
to promoting civil community and respectful conversation.
I begin by thanking Nikkita McPherson for her introduction.
[ Applause ]
And I'd like to thank the Theta Zeta chapter of Alpha fraternity
for arranging the wonderful candlelight vigil preceding this ceremony.
[ Applause ]
And I want to thank the Martin Luther King, Jr., Celebration Committee: Gabrielle Lucke,
Christine Crabb, Molly St. Sauveur, Maghan Porter, Kristen Aloisio,
Elise Smith, and everyone on that committee.
Thank you for all you've done to coordinate tonight's events
and Dartmouth's two-week long celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
[ Applause ]
And I want to extend my own personal special gratitude to two very dear colleagues:
Evelynn Ellis, the Vice President for Institutional Diversity and Equity
who is leading our diversity planning at Dartmouth; and Charlotte Johnson,
the dean of the college, and their teams of dedicated staffs and students.
They never stop for a moment helping all of us aim hire and strive harder
to build a better campus and a better global world so powerfully called for by Reverend King.
[ Applause ]
This year's celebration is so wonderfully called the Vital Art
of Nonconformity; Making the World Better.
It's very magical the way the celebration is bringing together all aspects
of the human creative spirit -- storytelling, photography, poetry of language, film, dance,
musical and other performances; these endeavors that are the focus
of Dartmouth's year-long celebration of the arts coming together to bear
on this celebration of social and civil justice.
The arts make possible conversations about the terribly difficult,
and they shed a nonconforming light on the dark realities
of issues like injustice and intolerance.
The award-winning work and the engaging and gutsy spirit of tonight's keynote speaker,
Katori Hall, is a perfect example of that power of the arts.
Her plays and her stories bring some dark realities to the stage in innovative ways,
at times painful, but always powerful.
As a writer and a playwright, her growing body of work shows how art and language can influence
and challenge perceptions about reality and justice.
She's unconventional and thought provoking with her artistic choices, and they portray truths
about society that we must hear if we are to change.
Her refusal to conform to other's expectations is what this week is about,
and her artistic integrity is so important to that process,
and they embody Reverend King's injunction to resist what he called, quote,
the pressure of the herd which is ever strong upon us.
We'll be hearing her voice for decades to come, and she honors us by being here today.
In his sermon "Transformed Nonconformist," Dr. King asserted, quote,
that the great creative insights have come from people who were in a minority.
It was the minority that fought for religious liberty.
It was the minority that brought about the freedom of scientific research.
In any cause that concerns the progress of humanity, he said,
put your faith in the nonconformist.
We have a history of nonconformist leaders at Dartmouth beginning with the founder
and nonconformist clergyman Eleazar Wheelock,
continuing with President John Sloan Dickey leading a national charge for global engagement;
and President John Kemeny, who 40 years ago, opened Dartmouth's doors to women,
recommitted the school to Native-American education,
and substantially increased the recruitment of African-American students on campus.
And there are, of course, many, many others.
As you listen to Katori Hall speak this evening, and as you chal --
and you attend many other MLK celebrations over the next couple of weeks,
I urge you to consider what it means to put your faith in visionary nonconformists.
Imagine what your own impact as a nonconformist can have
on the advancement of profound and social change.
Thank you.
[ Applause ]
>> Katori Hall: Thank you, President Folt.
Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was a man of strength, humility,
and had an undying spirit for social justice.
Dr. King was one of many black leaders that challenged the status quo
in a white supremacist society in which policies demonized the person
because of the color of their skin.
Celebrations of Dr. King's life should not stem from planning grand events such as this one.
Celebrations of Dr. King's life must be reflected at all times.
Dr. King did not stand for stagnation, nor did he become complacent
with snail-paced efforts toward equality.
Rather, he evolved every year with every action, every speech, and every breath.
He evolved into a human being who fought for every person to be treated fairly.
Despite his assassination at the peak of his intellectual revolution, his rich, authentic,
and dynamic efforts towards human equality is more relevant now than ever before.
Alignment -- aligning with the theme of this year's Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., celebration,
I would like to share a quote from Dr. King's work entitled "Transform nonconformists."
"O how many people today are caught in the shackles of the crowd.
Many of us think we find a sort of security in conforming to the ideas of the mob.
But my friends, it is the nonconformists that have made had history."
Over my four years at Dartmouth College, I have seen the best that Dartmouth has to offer:
Study abroad programs, research opportunities with the nation's top professors,
internships at top companies in the nation and around the world.
I have seen students rally around causes and fight for change.
I have seen fellow classmates apply what they learn beyond the comfort
of four walls of a classroom.
Professors challenge students to thing beyond their experiences and widen their perspective.
With all this grandeur of Dartmouth College,
it is unfortunate that we have not mastered the art of nonconformity.
To understand the idea of the true nonconformity, it is not only necessary
to reflect and acknowledge the ways it unfolds here at Dartmouth,
it is then vital that we improve the ways in order to accomplish our goals
in making this campus an inclusive and inviting home.
As for now, we are not allowed to pride ourselves with attending Dartmouth
if we do not acknowledge and actively seek to change the horrors that exist in this place.
There have been significant efforts made to create a safer environment on this campus.
The efforts that have been made are not enough
to remedy the current injustices that continue occurring.
In Dr. King's speech "Towards Freedom" delivered on the steps of Dartmouth Hall, Dr. King said,
"Human progress is construed of tireless efforts and a persistent work of dedicated individuals.
Without this hard work, time itself becomes the ally of the insurgent and primitive forces,
of irrational emotionalism, and social stagnation.
We are always challenged to help time and to realize the time is always right to do right."
We have not done right by each other at Dartmouth.
Women on this campus have been raped and re-victimized constantly.
We have settled into the comfort of an assuming focus groups, forums,
and panels can solve this problem.
We have settled into hiding from our loved ones the reality
of this growing problem on this campus.
We have settled into an unexplained acceptance of allowing convicted rapists
to continue to roam this campus and visit.
Students of color are tried and accused of self-segregating, for complaining,
for being too sensitive, for being emotional because we speak
out when Dartmouth peers call us vile names, when we are treated as invisible bodies
that only attend this institution because of affirmative action.
The problem of low recruitment and retention of faculty of color has been falsely labeled
as faculty of color's lack of desire to live in Hanover, New Hampshire.
This has been fed to the student body and we have all settled with this as an answer.
We continue to let ourselves remain invisible in the classroom unless called upon in a discussion
about racism or when there's only one black student in the class,
that is when they are called upon to speak about issues in Africa.
As Dr. King stated in his speech "Towards Freedom" when he challenged us here at Dartmouth
to think critically about slow progress toward ending segregation and discrimination,
"if moderation means slowing up in the move for justice, then moderation is a tragic vice
which all men of good will must condemn."
The fact is we can't afford to slow up.
We have our self-respect to maintain.
We claim to be the college on the hill.
We demand respect because of our status as the No.
1 undergraduate institution, yet we do not respect each other.
An institution built 240 years ago has evolved at a snail pace.
The positive change occurring on this campus should not be compared
to the stagnation of other universities.
Do not wait until your friend is a survivor of rape.
Stop settling.
Do not continue to ignore and/or be jaded by the racism, the sexism,
the homophobia the classism on this campus.
Stop settling.
Do not become the alum that allowed your silence to be a part
of the injustices that continue to occur.
Stop settling.
The art of nonconformity is not complicated.
It is about righting the wrongs that exist and taking necessary measures of prevention instead
of waiting for a situation to resolve itself.
I am not naive enough to think all of you sitting here, administrators, faculty, staff,
and our students will actually actively do anything; however,
it is my hope that after today you will fear the power of the few students, faculty, staff,
administrators, and community members who have already taken up radical approaches for change.
Change will occur when professors use the classroom in order
to create positively impactful dialogue that can be maintained outside the classroom.
Change will occur when students challenge their belief systems
and honor their holistic growth outside the comfort of their prejudices.
Change will occur when the board of trusties, administrators,
and alumni do not create solution from a top-down approach but rather
from a bottom-up collaborative approach.
Change will occur when we change the campus climate and the campus culture.
Change will occur when students, faculty, staff, administrators, community members,
everyone sitting here, everyone who is a part
of Dartmouth College changes the campus climate and the campus culture.
Only then we will execute the nonconformist ideology in which we do not abide
by what is a simple fix that allows for more harm than good,
but rather we establish a community in which no one is left to suffocate
under a repugnant campus climate that has existed for 243 years.
Remember in Dr. King's word from his work "Transform Nonconformists," "We have reflected
on the ways we have come short in making Dartmouth a better place."
The art of nonconformity, making the world a better place.
In order for this institution to credit itself for producing world leaders,
in order for us to hold each other accountable -- and I quote from the Dartmouth website --
"To change the world for the better and we give you the tools to make it happen."
All the members of this institution must creatively, effectively,
and radically challenge white supremacists' principles internationally,
nationally, and on this campus.
[ Applause ]
There's storm brewing to implement positive change for the betterment of all.
What role will you play?
Thank you.
[ Applause ]