Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Convocation

George R. Blumenthal
27th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Convocation
January 31, 2011

In 1957, Terrence Roberts fought to go to high school.

How many of you are in high school today? Good—I want to speak to you tonight. Because there is a place for everyone at the University of California.

UCSC's frosh class is one quarter Asian Americans, one quarter underrepresented minorities, and 44 percent will be the first in their families to earn a four-year college degree.

Our programs speak to the needs of a diverse student body. New this year, we have the Rosa Parks African American Theme House at Stevenson College. We have Indigenous Peoples Hall at Merrill College. Theme dorms and apartments give students a place to build community with others who share their interests.

UCSC is home to Rainbow Theater, a multicultural theater group that produces performances and workshops and becomes a "home away from home" for students.

Our Educational Opportunity Program offers academic advising and personal support with a focus on student success.

Our Resource Centers support students by ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and more. We support all our students with programs that build community, foster unity, and celebrate diversity. We support the "whole person," helping all students grow into well-rounded, engaged, happy and productive adults.

This is not a top-down initiative. I am proud that we have a campuswide commitment to diversity. Students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members serve on the Advisory Council on Campus Climate, Culture and Inclusion.

Martin Luther King Jr. said, "The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically…. Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education."

That's what we do at UCSC.

Education opens doors. If you keep your dream alive, you'll help keep Martin Luther King's dream alive!