Two recent op-eds published in Diverse: Issues In Higher Education struck a chord with me — “Black History Beyond One Month” by Dr. Elwood Watson, a professor of history and African American studies at East Tennessee State University, and “One Month of Black History is Not Enough” by Dr. James B. Ewers Jr., a former associate dean for student affairs at Miami University Middletown.
Let me say that we at the University of Dayton wholeheartedly agree.
On our campus sits a monument to the daily work of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and King’s address on our campus in 1964.
Allow me to stress that again – a monument to King’s daily work.
Remembering King, Black history and civil rights shouldn’t be just a middle of January, month of February or April 4 thing. We should remind ourselves that what really matters is the daily work of King, his contemporaries and today’s champions of equality. And we should recognize, commemorate and celebrate Black history daily.
This monument on our campus — “Our Daily Quest” — has inspired me since I arrived on campus such that I make it the starting point when I give campus tours. I can see the monument when I look out my office window, and every day it reminds me of the daily work we must all do to become a more diverse and inclusive community on campus and beyond.
That it should serve as a daily call to action was the vision of University of Dayton art history professor Roger Crum when he worked on the monument with M. Gary Marcinowski, Marianist brother and associate professor of art, and John Clarke, associate professor of art and design.
