Almost 34 years have passed since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. died, but his oldest daughter Yolanda refuses to lose faith in what she calls The Dream with a capital "T" and a capital "D."

"The cause for which he lived is still a cause and the dream for which he died is still a dream," she told a packed crowd in the Eisenhower Auditorium last night.

She said each individual has a choice to either join in the fight against oppression that her father once led or remain an inactive bystander.

There are three kinds of people who stand on the sidelines while others initiate change — the "coulda, shoulda, woulda folks," the "can't folks" and the "won't folks," she said.

The struggle cannot be successful unless people decide to overcome those negative attitudes: "We can choose to get up off our apathy and our complacency and get to the work that still needs to be done," King said.

She said her personal belief in the dream of freedom from oppression for all people drives her life.

"I have chosen to believe and that choice dictates and gives meaning to every other choice I make," King said.

She said yesterday's holiday is not really about honoring the man — her father would have been embarrassed by that — but it's about doing the work.

The day of service activities run by Penn State yesterday showed what all colleges and universities should be doing, King said.

She personally thanked co-directors Rebecca Levin and Jeffrey Paradise for making the day of service a program that should be emulated by others.

"Instead of taking a day off, relaxing, just chilling, you have had an opportunity to take a day on," she said.

David Davis, Black Caucus secretary, agreed that the team did an excellent job of organizing the day's events. "They are two people who live King's legacy every day," he said.

King went on to say that activities such as yesterday's day of service are important to college students to participate in. "As we move into an increasingly global economy, it will be those of you who are comfortable in a multicultural setting who will succeed," she said.

She said students should be required to take at least one course in diversity. By adding multiculturalism to the university, students will become more educated about the differences that exist.

"In every nook and corner of college life, you can make a difference," she said.

Furthermore, King said as a country we need to re-evaluate the way American and European history is taught in elementary schools. "We must clear up some of the myths that we have been led to believe," she said.

King went on to talk about the economic injustices different groups throughout the country experience. She calls the rectification of this her father's "last dream" because he spent the last six months of his life fighting for it.

When he died, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was starting a united struggle of all people who were oppressed; a struggle that was perceived as dangerous by some.

"If you understand that dream then perhaps you will understand why and from where the bullet came," King said.

"Dead men make such convenient heroes," she said. "It's far easier to build monuments than it is to build a better world."

Jasmine Snyder (freshman-psychology) said Yolanda King's speech was probably the most moving she had ever heard. Her friend, Alicia Scales (freshman-division of undergraduate studies) agreed: "You could tell she really meant what she was saying."