Effect & Resulting Programs at WMU

After his visit in 1963, Dr. King continued to have a profound influence on the campus. Western Michigan University students reacted to King's assassination on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee, and President James Miller responded to the students' demands to examine racism on the campus and in the University's curricula.

Within days of Dr. King's death, President Miller raised $28,000 to establish the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Fund. With additional support from the Kellogg Foundation, a program called "Project 73" was launched. Beginning in the fall semester, 1968, sixty WMU freshmen from southwestern Michigan high schools took part in this program which awarded scholarships and provided other assistance to students. This fund and program became the Martin Luther King Program. While the original program provided scholarship assistance, the current focus of the Martin Luther King Program is encouragement and support, including academic advising, vocational and personal counseling, tutoring, and testing.

The University also developed the Black Americana Studies Program which was designed to increase the student's understanding of Black Culture and of Black History. Dr. Carleton Lee was named head of the Black Americana Studies Program which was initiated in 1970-71 with three new undergraduate courses and one graduate seminar. Today, the Program consists of a major and minor and fifteen courses.