In the brink of a cold winter in the northeast region, schools, post offices and businesses took Jan. 17 off. They took the day off in remembrance of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Although some of us watched WPSX-TV (TCI channel 3) last Monday evening, others braved the dangerous weather en route to Eisenhower Auditorium in respect of the efforts of a great man who stood for civil rights through nonviolence.

Today some of us may still have our buttons from last year, "share the dream," while others wear this year's theme button, "the beloved community: no wall, no barriers." My question is what does this year's theme really mean to people who wear the button? Are people today willing to love their neighbor whether their skin color be black, white, red or yellow? I don't think so.

The world is a heartless place and, like many large institutions, Penn State University has heartless people. These people come in many forms, shapes and colors.

Many of us attending this University have come to get a classroom education. How many walls have we crossed to get an education outside the classroom? How many of us have come from social, racial and religious communities to interact and exchange ideas from people outside of our socializing communities in an effort to break the barriers? I don't think many of us have made this challenge.

At this institution we should all come together as a community. We do this by choosing friends for the positive attributes they have to offer. Penn State can no longer have the segregation it does among its multicultural students.

The University should incorporate an essay into the entry-level students' application process to discuss what diversity means to them and how they will apply working with people of different backgrounds. Those students who answer the statement to the best of their ability will provide Penn State with people who can build beloved communities where all of God's children can live together as human beings.

It is then students can wear buttons reflective of their real inner self in making the educational experience as dynamic as it can be in Happy Valley.