One man’s dream played a big part in sculpting a union of our society.

I don’t see any reason why there shouldn’t be a sculpture of him in our union.

I commend the Student Senate’s resolution to further honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the Union with a bust statue, portrait or plaque of his “I Have a Dream” speech.

His life and death, his words, wisdom and courage are something we all should be reminded of daily. He died for a dream we are living.

Should anyone be distracted from the ideas of equality in our country, the script of his dream would serve as a reminder.

I can’t imagine what my life would have been like if I hadn’t gone to the same grade school as my childhood best friend just because we had different skin color. I don’t know what I would have done if she and I couldn’t sit on the bus or go to the roller rink and movie theater together.

Or if it were not possible for me to talk to anyone who caught my interest.

Or if the collegiate experience at public universities like Eastern was limited based on ethnic background.

In his Letter from Birmingham City Jail, signed “Yours for the cause of Peace and Brotherhood,” King wrote, “Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere in this country.”

Americans are walking in a path Dr. King paved, leading toward the light of equality he sparked.

With time, prejudices like racial, religious, gender, socioeconomic and sexual preference inequalities need to become increasingly more dark and distant.

As he said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”

The love he used to promote his cause should serve as a model in our democracy.

While it’s well beyond time for all sizes, shapes, colors, etc. of Americans to view each other equally, the course of actions he used to attain equality should serve as a prototype for promoting causes.

Dr. King provided another valuable lesson by admirably taking advantage of constitutional rights.

“Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred,” he said in “I Have a Dream.”

The rights to assemble and voice causes were enacted peacefully and with dignity in his equality efforts.

Senate secretary and sophomore political science major Jeff Collier said that in the 1970s, when the union was named after King, the sign bearing his name was stolen twice.

Undignified statements like that fall far from the standards King enacted with his eloquent words and peaceful protest.

A reminder of civil, dignified disobedience would be appropriate for this campus, where bright minds have strong viewpoints.

I would be proud to see in our union an extensive tribute to the man who worked so “the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all of their scintillating beauty.”