News Briefs
MLK Display Vandalized
Vandals defaced the Martin Luther King Jr. display in Lobby 10 last Saturday and Tuesday nights. According to MIT Campus Police Captain David Carlson, "Part of a display was knocked to the floor, dish soap was dumped on the floor, two cardboard figures suspended by ropes were taken down, and a cardboard figure was cut in half." On Tuesday, the last night of the display, a sign featuring Dr. King's famous "I have a dream …" quote was ripped, a cardboard person's head was torn off, papier-mâché figures were shredded, and four posters were stolen. The vandals were not caught.
The display was constructed by students in the Independent Activities Period seminar, Special Topics in Political Science (17.920). James Pacella, a student who helped build the display, said that it took at least 12-15 people about five hours to erect the wooden figure alone. "The whole purpose of the installation this year was to answer the question, have we lived up to the dream? … The vandalism only shows that we still have a ways to go to live up to the dream."
The installation was on display from Feb. 5-13, leading up to MIT's Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration today.
—Kristina M. Holton