For those who like sleeping in - enjoy being able to do so on Monday when there are no classes. But don't forget there is a reason why we have a day off.
On the evening of April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was standing on the second-floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn., when he was pierced by an assassin's bullet.
A few days later, President Lyndon Baines Johnson declared a national day of mourning. Hundreds of thousands grieved at the fallen civil rights leader's funeral as they remembered his Nobel Prize-winning achievements.
Almost 40 years - an entire generation - have passed.
King's dream has begun to materialize thanks to the efforts of those who continued the struggle for equality, but the fight is not over.
Incidents such as Don Imus' uncouth comments about the hairstyles of Rutgers University's women's basketball team have shown that not everyone has accepted King's teachings.
Stereotypes and racial profiling began to be directed toward Middle Easterners and Muslims following the attacks on Sept. 11.
In addition, the civil rights movement has extended beyond racial issues. There is opposition to same-sex couples marrying or entering civil unions in many states, a right extended only to male-female couples.
Ball State is also exposed to these types of actions.
In 2005, motorists shouted racial slurs and threw eggs out the windows of their vehicles at several black students on McKinley Avenue.
More recently, Ronny Thompson, former men's basketball coach, and his assistant coaches found racist notes under their doors last summer.
Prejudice has diminished in the United States, but it is not gone, which is why King's philosophies cannot be forgotten, even if he died while most students' parents were still young.
Even for those who cannot attend any of Ball State's events in honor of King, students should stop and remember the man, along with all the others who contributed to the struggle for equality. Feel free to do so the next day.
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