This is in response to all of the commotion about the senior gift proposal of a memorial in front of Rec. Hall to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Thon and Penn State athletics. It seems everywhere I go recently I hear people complaining about the gift option. And frankly, I think it's ridiculous. Why shouldn't the two things that promote more student unity and participation than anything else on campus be commemorated with the respect to a man that promoted nothing less than cohesiveness and welfare for others?

The objectives here is the same, so how is it a crime to join our school's history? Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "With (this) faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood." So why can't we look beyond the color of our skin for once and see the things that are truly important - brotherhood and helping others. Penn State athletics has given many students - black, white, Hispanic, you name it - the opportunity to pursue something they have passion for, a sport that they love. Thon couldn't be more supportive of brotherhood, and cancer is undeniably a huge discord to this nation.

I guarantee you the families that have children fighting cancer have just as hard of a life, if not harder, than any person who has suffered because of racism, which is everyone I have ever met, no matter what the skin color. Racism isn't a disease. It can be cured. But it never will be as long as people use it to condemn each other. Why must you only see the skin color of the people you look at, why can't we see the opportunity to get to know someone new, and to perhaps find a valuable relationship? Any stranger is just as foreign to another person who doesn't know who they are, or where they're from, or what they're like, no matter what color the skin.

But I would be willing to bet that if the gift was honoring a white man, nobody would complain. Why can't we celebrate that Penn State is trying to uphold Dr. King's dream? With how much respect we all have for Dr. King, why can't anyone follow his dream?