By Nedal Ahmed
Student Correspondent

Rebecca Sweat (left) was the winner of the 2007 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speech contest.

Nearly half a century ago, on August 28, 1963 one man said he had a dream. It was a dream of justice, peace and equality. The man was, of course, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in his famed speech during the March on Washington, a landmark moment in the American civil rights movement.

Today, the speech is celebrated as one of the most timeless and effective pieces of rhetoric in American history, alongside other speeches such as Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg address and the Infamy Speech of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

This February at Collin College, Phi Theta Kappa and Sigma Chi Eta have turned this inspirational address into an opportunity for students to continue their own dream by making King's speech the basis for a speech competition, which allows students not only a chance to sharpen their rhetoric skills, but also a scholarship prize. This is the second year of the competition.

The competition's theme provided the basis for a slightly different question Sigma Chi Eta posed to several Collin College students, who were asked to restate what they recall of Dr. King's original dream and whether they felt his dream had been accomplished as of 2008.

Binatu Da, a sophomore accounting major and Phi Theta Kappa member, and an international student from the Ivory Coast who has also lived in Paris, France chose to apply the question on a global basis. Da said that she feels that Dr. King's dream is a long way from being realized as she feels there is a lot of discrimination in schools not only in the United States, but all across the world as well.

According to Da, when she lived in Paris for two years before coming to the United States, she attended a boarding school with students, where she says, she felt she was ostracized for being different. Da says that when she went to classes, students called her names because of her nationality and culture.

William Galbreath, another Collin College student, feels that for the most part Dr. King's dream has been realized, but not completely.

"There is still hatred in the world, there's still racism," Galbreath said. "I think those are the reasons his dream hasn't been fully realized."

According to Galbreath, in order to achieve the Dream, hate groups such as the KKK should be done away with and also feels that the United States as a country could take after a country like Japan, which he considers to be "a more rational, civilized society."

Another Collin College sophomore, Lon Johnson says that Dr. King's dream, which she views as one of "equality in every single way and every single aspect," has been realized to an extent, but mostly as a "cover."

"As a person now, you can go to school where you want, you can say what you want and do what you want, just be your own person," Johnson said. "But I also think a lot hasn't changed really. Back then, it was more, out front and bold, but we still have, there's just a paper over it."

When asked what she meant by a cover, Johnson said "I think people know that (discrimination is) wrong, and they don't want to be seen as a bad person so they act like they don't believe that way, when they do."

It is in this light that Phi Theta Kappa and Sigma Chi Eta pose the speech competition's theme: "If Dr. King were alive today, what would his dream for the future be?"

Last year's competition had seven entries and offered three transferable scholarship awards and the first place winner, Rebecca Sweat, provided a speech of such merit that the college doubled her prize.

Participants are encouraged to use the original "I Have a Dream" speech as part of their original 4- to 7-minute address. Entry forms are due Friday, Feb. 15. The speeches will be presented 6 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 26, at the Spring Creek Campus Conference Center. Contact Phi Theta Kappa at PTK@ccccd.edu for more information.