BSA Will Ask Harvard To Mark King's Birthday

The Harvard Black Students Association (BSA) yesterday announced that it would ask the Harvard administration to declare the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday a school holiday next year.

At its general meeting last December, the BSA voted unanimously to petition the administration to celebrate King's birthday officially. It is currently sending letters calling for such a move to President Bok and the undergraduate deans.

Eugene J. Green '80, president of the BSA, said yesterday that "Martin Luther King will be remembered forever for giving his life in the struggle to secure freedom for black people whom he loved tremendously, and his birthday should be celebrated accordingly."

Bureaucracy

Dean Fox said the proposal would have to come before the full Faculty, which is responsible for all calendar changes.

Kenneth Rankins '80-3, a member of BSA's executive board, added that he believes that Harvard, by taking a stand on the issue, could "help further the national effort to make Dr. King's birthday a national holiday."

The Harvard community celebrated King's birthday yesterday with several observances. The United Ministry at Harvard and Radcliffe sponsored services in Memorial Church at noon with the Edward W. Rodman, missioner to minority communities for the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, delivering the sermon.

At the Business School, classes were videotaped for all first-year students, so they could attend any events celebrating King's birthday. The Afro-American Studies Department, and the W.E.B. DuBois Institute, were closed in King's honor.

Nationally, civil rights leaders joined First Lady Rosalyn Carter in Atlanta to honor King's memory. Several of the civil rights leaders at the ceremony called for a national holiday on King's birthday.