is death, pronounced just after 8 p.m. on April 6, 1968, will dim his wife’s eyes.

It will stonewall the minds of his four children who, for years, will struggle to understand why their father’s hands no longer fuel swing sets in city parks.

It will bring a congregation and the better part of a divided nation to its knees.

It is an event that punctuated the being of a man began Jan. 15, 1929, in the upstairs bedroom of a Sweet Auburn, Atlanta home. But his life outlived his body – forever superseded by progressive ideals.

And his name, Martin Luther King Jr., is now synonymous with dreams.

Two hundred seventy five miles north, at a university then-called Western Kentucky Teacher’s College, it will drive a group of students to the streets in tribute of this 39-year-old man killed by his legendary devotion to the idea that he and his assassin deserved to live as brothers in a nation of equal opportunity.

According to the April 11, 1968 edition of the College Heights Herald, a group of about 75 students – mostly black – participated in a song and prayer-filled demonstration at Western’s stadium after news of King’s death hit national airwaves.

But for the most part, the response from students at this predominately white school was small – smaller than that of many other American universities – and the discrepancy was noticed.

“In the form of memorial services (King’s) eminency was recognized, as colleges and universities throughout the United States paid tribute to this noble man,” Steve Ealey and Rosemary Gohagan, then-Western students, wrote in a letter to the editor published a week after King’s assassination. “We had hoped Western, too, would follow this tradition of giving honor to whom honor is due.”

“This did not happen. The only sounds emitted in this regard were superficial sighs and trite platitudes. In short, the university, from our observations, appeared to be couched in its’ indifference.”

Western has changed.

It changed, as did the rest of America. But those changes took a lot of time. And even today, roughly four decades later, more is necessary.

In a recent event titled “Racism: the Unspoken Barriers,” about 70 Western students discussed questions they had pertaining to race and current racial stereotypes in the auditorium of Tate Page Hall.

For Nashville junior Tim Gray, a resident assistant at Barnes-Campbell, and other coordinators of the program, it seemed their biggest goal for the evening was for students to talk openly about what they would otherwise keep to themselves or back away from in everyday situations.

And they did.

When asked roughly an hour into the program, nearly every person present raised a hand to admit they’ve laughed at a racist joke.

Coordinators of the program conducted a survey in seven of Western’s residence halls. Out of the 600 responses they received, 74 percent of students said racism exists on this campus. Of the 26 percent who said it did not exist on campus, 70 percent were white and 17 percent were black.

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cent were black.

“I was surprised so many people said it didn’t exist,” Nashville freshman Britney Syler said of the results. “Especially that 17 percent of the people who said racism didn’t exist were black, because I would’ve expected all blacks to say there was some.

“I wasn’t surprised that a significant amount of the people who said no were white, because a lot of white people don’t want to admit it’s there.”

Several of the students came with apparent concerns. Craig Burton, a Campbellsville sophomore and RA at Pearce Ford Tower, for example, said he has been “denied respect” in his dorm by black students because he was white.

“In an ideal world, you would see color and you would embrace it,” Ben Ellis, hall director at Poland said. “People feel like they have to change who they are to fit in with a group of people who are different from them.”

Several of the students said they had witnessed this type of isolating behavior in facets of Western.

“For the most part, whites are still with whites and blacks are still with blacks,” said Frankfort senior Scott Ashburn, a religion and communication studies major. “And to me, it just seems like a lot of times we use skin color to not get into the real issue of culture.”

Although the number of African American faculty has increased every year since 1999, based on fall 2003 statistics held by Western’s institutional research department, the university employs more than 2,000 people – 85 percent of whom are white, non-Hispanics; only 6 percent are black.

In addition, fall 2004 estimates indicate nearly 16,000 white non-Hispanic students are enrolled at Western, compared to less than 1,500 black students.

Having many interracial friendships, Gary Hook, a senior history major said he thinks there are significant dangers that accompany this lack of diversity.

“We’re all connected,” he said. “And we all have something to offer each other.”

Will McCormick, a senior broadcasting major agrees.

He was one of several students who signed a petition last April when Soul Grooves, a 2-hour span of airtime dedicated to predominately African American-produced music on Western’s radio station Revolution 91.7, was dropped from the rotation.

It was only when the Christian music program that replaced it didn’t work out that the station returned the show.

“This campus has a real problem integrating stuff like student activities,” McCormick said. “A lot of times it’s pretty much just a white thing or just a black thing. But I think things are not proportioned out correctly in regular society, not just at Western.”

John Hardin, assistant to the provost for diversity enhancement and associated history professor, said in many ways Western was slow in becoming desegregated.

And Hardin said, much like this nation, Western faces many challenges in its efforts to address issues of ethnic diversity.

The Committee on Equal Opportunities – which monitors how well institutions have implemented The Kentucky Plan for Equal Opportunities for the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights – visited Western last April and found the university has steadily progressed in reaching Kentucky’s outlined objectives.

The committee reported that in recent years, Western’s employed a number of initiatives, all positively impacting the recruitment and enrollment of black students, but noted student retention and graduation remained a challenge.

The committee was also concerned Western won’t reap the full benefit of its efforts “because of the lack of effective and consistent communication among administration, faculty, staff and students.”

Still, overall the university is trying to improve diversity. Black graduate and undergraduate enrollment, for example, has increased since 1998.

McCormick said he hopes the trend continues.

“Theoretically, you come to college to experience different people, different races, different religions, to make you a more well rounded person,” McCormick explained. “And unless people step outside of their comfort zones or whatever confines them, then it’s hard for you to think on a broader level and you’re not going to grow as an individual.

“Forget the degree, forget all that nonsense – you need to grow as a person and when you meet and interact with other people, stereotypes get broken down and you actually get to the core of humanity.”

The Herald will take a closer look at diversity on the Hill from the 1970s to the present next week.

Reach Natasha Allen at features@wkuherald.com.