On this day we pause to honor the life and accomplishments of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. While we pay our respects and give justified tribute to our martyred brother, let our reflection be purposeful and our pause be brief.

It is not out of disrespect that I ask for our collective pause to be brief. I urge that our pause be brief because the "Dream" of which he so eloquently articulated has yet to become reality; the work of Dr. King has yet to be finished.

The greatest honor that we can pay Dr. King would be to pick up his torch of truth and justice, letting it shine for all to see. This is how Dr. King would have wanted it. He would not want us to spend millions of dollars to have banquets in his name - he would rather we feed the hungry. He would not want us to erect towering temples glorifying his name -- he would demand that we shelter the homeless.

When the effects of racial discrimination cause students to cry out he would not have them confronted by state troopers -- he would rather we send university presidents or others who may have the power and influence to correct institutional policy.

Let our pause be brief, because social injustice, inequality, racism, sexism and bigotry never rest.

Here at Penn State, our school will spend tremendous amounts of money on its annual celebration for Dr. King. Surely many beautiful words will be spoken. But no matter how sincere our words are, talk is cheap. If we at Penn State truly believe the philosophies of Dr. King as much as we say we do, let us re-direct the resources that we make available for our annual celebration and meet the challenge that Dr. King set for us by beginning a 365-days-a-year vigil finding solutions to the tragedy of our 63 percent attrition rate for African-American students. For Dr. King assuredly would rather that we retain and graduate our students as opposed to giving them cake and speeches in auditoriums. He would rather that we spend money ensuring and guaranteeing the safety of our women students who are so often victimized by men.

On this day let us dedicate our lives to ending social injustices. Let us use unconditional love as our sabre as we prepare to fence with those that gain from oppressing and exploiting other human beings. Let peace be our means and not just the ends that we seek.

Let our pause be brief as we attempt to spread equality for all from the lowest valley to the highest mountain peak. If we can do this then Dr. King's life would not have been lived in vain.

As we pause to honor our fallen hero, let us be careful of placing him on an unreachable pedestal. Let us be careful of thinking that we can never attain the lofty goals that he set. Let us never believe that we are any different from him.

Of all the many splendid things that Dr. King was, he was not a caped-crusader, he was not a masked avenger or an extraterrestrial. He was a human being, just like you and I; he was born of the flesh just like you and I, and he made mistakes just like you and I.

But most importantly he was given the daily charge of teaching the truth, of working to end abject ghetto life and abject rural life. He was given the charge of fighting racism, sexism, and every other form of dehumanizing exclusiveness and arrogance, JUST LIKE YOU AND I.