THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 20, 1995 TAG: 9501180128
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANCIE LATOUR, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
He is the first African-American mayor to lead Chesapeake in its 30-year history.
He has championed civil rights for blacks since the 1970s, both from within the political system and from without.
He has taken knowledge gained from as far away as Ghana and brought it home to students across Hampton Roads.
But those who honored Dr. William E. Ward last week said it was the mayor's unwavering dignity that most reflected the spirit of slain civil rights pioneer Martin Luther King Jr.
More than 200 students, faculty and administrators of Old Dominion University gathered to honor Ward as the school's 11th recipient of its Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Award. The award recognizes a Virginia resident who has helped minorities in Hampton Roads through personal sacrifice, leadership and conviction in the face of adversity.
``And Mayor Ward certainly fits that bill,'' said Lucy R. Wilson, associate vice president for student services at ODU.
Wilson, also former chairwoman of the Norfolk School Board, has known Ward for 20 years. In that time, Wilson said, she has seen his contribution to Hampton Roads reach far beyond any official capacity.
``He has been at the forefront of the civil rights movement,'' Wilson said. ``And as a professor, he has had an opportunity to impact students directly and give them the knowledge that will change their lives.''
Ward teaches history at Norfolk State University.
Most of all, Wilson said, ``Ward has brought integrity to the mayoral seat. I think in the past, there was the air of a corruption problem in Chesapeake. And he has restored that image of sobriety, good will and interest in the people.''
Ward's honor was the culmination of a daylong observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day at the university. The commemoration also included a silent march, a performance by ODU's gospel choir and a play called ``The Meeting,'' which imagined a fictitious meeting between King and slain Nation of Islam leader Malcolm X.
At a morning brunch to honor Ward, ODU President James V. Koch said he saw in Ward the same dignity that served as a personal philosophy and a political strategy for King.
``King's philosophy was always to love your enemies,'' Koch said, ``to shame your enemy by loving them even if they're spitting in your face or trying to provoke you.''
Koch said he witnessed the power of King's solemn determination first-hand in 1965, when thousands marched in non-violent protest against housing discrimination in the Chicago neighborhood of Cicero, Ill. Koch, then a student, was one of a few whites to march with King.
``He may not have had the immediate impact on changing the minds of whites in Cicero that he would have liked,'' Koch said. ``But he forced people to fundamentally confront who they were. . . . His dignity heavily influenced the news media's perception, not only of him, but of the civil rights movement. Before, they had painted it in a negative light.''
With many hurdles still impeding racial equality, university officials said there was no more fitting way to honor King than to highlight those who carry on his legacy.
``It's become a very important part of the university year,'' said Nancy A. Olthoff, a professor who helped organize the day's events. ``Because it just reinforces the carrying out of the vision that King set out. . . . It says that we, as an institution, value this person's contribution to all our lives, regardless of color.''
Ward said he was both honored and encouraged by the award.
``It's always an honor to be recognized by your community,'' Ward said. ``But more importantly, I applaud ODU for preserving its commitment to Martin Luther King's legacy and the way in which we can all carry it forth in our own way.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by BETH BERGMAN
Chesapeake Mayor William E. Ward, left, talks with ODU President
James V. Koch at the university's observance of Martin Luther King
Day.
by CNB