"Get out there, get active," Martin Luther King III told students during his visit to campus. King used the day to urge young people to serve in the fight against poverty and oppression. (Photo: Sally McCay)

In the inauguration of the 44th — but first African American — president, this country got at least a glimpse of that mountaintop Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. profoundly claimed to see. With that as a backdrop, near the end of a historic week, the University of Vermont had the honor of welcoming human rights advocate and community activist Martin Luther King III, the elder son of the civil rights icon. It was the keynote event of a full week of celebrations and educational opportunities commemorating Dr. King's birthday.

Having witnessed the swearing-in and having worked with President Obama on a youth service project on Monday, King said of the week, "For me personally, it was electrifying. I felt jubilation."

The chance to hear King speak extended that feeling for UVM and the surrounding community as nearly 2,000 people poured into Patrick Gymnasium — students, senior citizens, parents with small children. As Wanda Heading-Grant, associate provost for multicultural affairs and academic initiatives, noted, "Everyone wanted a piece of it." They wanted a share of that momentous feeling of progress.

Yet King, in his talk, wasted little time cutting to the core of why America has edged closer though has not fully realized his father's vision. "We seem so consumed on self," he said. "We should be as concerned about others as we are about ourselves."

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