[Reprinted From January 18, 2016]

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – As the world pauses to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, @BCUathletics joins the celebration by remembering his visit to the Bethune-Cookman campus.

Not quite at the precipice of his Civil Rights ministry but still a powerful orator, Dr. King served as the commencement speaker on May 26, 1958 in Historic Moore Gymnasium.

The day before, the Methodist speaker for baccalaureate was incredibly dull, so what could be expected of this minister from Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama?

Some just wanted the ceremony to get over with as soon as possible so they could clear out their rooms and start their lives. Class secretary Dorothy (Heild) Saunders believed things could get interesting.

"We knew Dr. King was a hot potato, a rebel rouser," Saunders said. "He was making some noise and we thought "someone could try to blow up the auditorium." One thing though, it was exciting."

The late Lloyd "Tank" Johnson, who would go on to serve as Bethune-Cookman's athletic director, recalled in a 2011 Orlando Sentinel article that he had no idea who Dr. King was, but everything changed once the commencement address began.

Adorned in academic robes over a nattily-styled suit, Dr. King didn't stand behind the podium, rather stepping around it as he addressed the graduating class of approximately 250. Notes? Of course not!

"When he opened his mouth, the moment he did that, we knew this was a different experience right then," Johnson said. "We knew we were in a different world."

Saunders, who earned her Education degree that day,  also knew things were about to change.

"Before that, some of us saw him as a rebel, now he was this person we knew would make a difference," Saunders said. "You wanted to follow him.'

Dr. James Huger was already on board. Frat brother thing. As the general secretary of Alpha Phi Alpha, Dr. Huger went to Montgomery two years before in a show of solidarity for Dr. King after his arrest for leading the Montgomery bus boycott.

As the assistant to the president for Bethune-Cookman in 1958, Dr. Huger picked up Dr. King at the airport that commencement day and was enjoying resuming their friendship.

"To be with him at the start of his journey and that day on campus, it was a privilege," said Dr. Huger, who himself enjoys a local Civil Rights legacy that includes serving as the first African-American on the Daytona Beach City Council and the Volusia County Council.

Saunders' appreciation of that day goes even further.

"When I first got to campus, I had the opportunity to hear Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune speak before she passed [in 1955] and then I got to hear Dr. King," Saunders said. "I feel very fortunate…very blessed."