University of Massachusetts Boston - Beacon Yearbook (Boston, MA)

Page 11 text:

Chancellor Robert A. Corrigan and Ioyce Mobley Corrigan To the Graduating Class of 1986: l congratulate each and every one of you upon the completion of this stage of your education at the Univer- sity of Massachusetts at Boston. Whatever your age, or sex, or race, whatever your initial educational strengths or weaknesses, you have proven to the satisfaction of your faculty that you have mastered the requirements of this institution. For some of you it has been the fulfill- ment of a goal long ago established, for others it has been a journey marked by new and changing personal discoveries. It is my hope that for all of you it has been just the beginning of an endless excitement for learning. You have been part of an academic community that demands the best of itself and has demanded the best of you. As you take your well earned place in a world that will be equally demanding, you must meet every chal- lenge with the energy and generosity which were the hallmarks of your success at UMass!Boston. In that spirit, let me remind you of an old church cus- tom called tithing, in which the parishioner donates one tenth of personal income to the church. Let's create with the class of 1986 a new custom of social tithing-donate 10? of your time and energy to making Boston and Massachusetts, the nation, and the world a better place for all of us. Spend 90? of your time on yourself and your family-earning a living, advancing your career, furthering your education-but give the other 10? to the community. Tithe yourself. The community doesn't be- long to someone else-it belongs to you-the rimzrnzmify is you. During a very important part of your life you have been a part of us. I urge you to maintain your ties to this University. Please keep in touch and return to visit. ln the years ahead let us relish our mutual pride in one an- other's accomplishments as we grow and develop togeth- er Robert A. Corrigan Chancellor

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President David C. Knapp To The Class of 1986: Presidents customarily use yearbook messages as occa- sions to mark the progress of their institutions. In doing so, they often take note of their campus' enhanced public reputation, the scholarly achievements of its faculty, im- provements to the physical plant, and the success of its athletic teams. The University of Massachusetts at Boston measures up on all these scores which, taken together, signify the campus' maturity. I wish, however, to depart from cus- tom and use this opportunity to focus on a different as- pect of the institution-you, its students. As has been noted many times every student at the Boston Campus has his or her unique story of obstacles overcome and achievements realized. Your university, like most of our nation's urban universities, was conceived more than two decades ago to help individuals like you in pursuit of learning and a better life. Our success on that score is our surest mark of progress. You as a class demonstrate how necessary and successful the University of Massachusetts at Boston is to the Commonwealth. You, who have worked and studied here, and have now graduated are the Boston Campus' most important achievement during its relatively brief history. Your record of success will always remain our most enduring monument. Congratulations and best wishes in all your endeavors. David C. Knapp President University of Massachusetts

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Honoring a King This past Ianuary 20th, 1986, marks the first day this country will have celebrated the life of Dr. Martin Lu- ther King Ir. as a national holiday. By actnof Congress, duly signed by President Reagan, his birthday will be celebrated on the third Monday of this and every succeeding Ianuary. King was a champion for freedom and justice for all people, a man who lived to combat the violent evils of social injustice without the use of violence himself. Al- though he never held or sought public office, King shaped and ,made more political change than any politician or private citizen of our era. On April 4, 1968, the man who had the courage to love and inspire all peo- ple to join hands as a nation was slain on a motel balcony in Memphis, Tennessee. King was the beacon of the civil rights movement, with his Doctrine of Non-Violent Social Change, he confronted segregation, exposing the violent opposition on national television with boycotts, sit-ins, and freedom marches. ln Birmingham, we made a frontal attack upon the segregation and oppression of Negroes in Alabama, said King. There, before the unbelieving eyes of mil- lions of television viewers, and in the front pages of newspapers, we exposed the evils of bigotry in all its vi- ciousness. The Birmingham police had used firehoses and attack dogs on freedom marching families of men, women and children. National newspapers published pictures of these horrifying events. King believed this was a turning point in the drive for Civil Rights because it was now no longer possible for 'people of conscience to ignore the desperation of their plea. I have no fears about the outcome of our struggle in Birmingham, King said, even if our motives are presently misunderstood. We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation, because the goal of America is freedom. Abused and scorned as though we may be, our destiny is tied up with the destiny of America . . . We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands. Our history, said King of Black Americans, is bound up with the history of America. We built homes and houses for our masters and suffered injustice and hu- miliation, but out of a bottomless pit vitality continued to live and grow. If the inexpressible cruelties of slavery could not extinguish our existence, the opposition we now face will surely fail. Perhaps we can use some of the ideals of perseverance, love and brotherhood taught to us by Martin Luther King, Ir. Perhaps as we go forth in our own lives we'll remember the pain and injustice suffered by our mothers and fathers of all origins so that we, as an extension of them, can appreciate the freedoms that they sacrificed so much for. Maybe we will start to think of ourselves as brothers and sisters, as Dr. King dreamed, when hearing the National anthem at a Red Sox game or discussing apartheid in South Africa. If we are to continue to grow and truly be the nation we were intended to be, we must find it in our hearts to teach our children the value and power of life. For we are the children that Dr. King spoke of when he addressed 250,000 people in Washington in 1963: I have a dream . . . that one day little black boys and black girls will be able to join with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers . . . This will be the day, when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning 'My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrims' pride, from every mountain side let freedom ringl' It is to the loving memory and spirit of Dr. Martin Lu- ther King Ir. that we, the staff of The BEACON 1986, dedi- Managing Ed cate this book.