LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — At a celebration to remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the chancellor of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln said a recent act of vandalism showed that progress still needs to be made to meet the dream of the slain civil rights leader.

Chancellor Harvey Perlman said the vandalization earlier this month of a campus bulletin board containing gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender information was an intolerable act.

It marked the fourth time in a year that the board had been the target of vandals.

While the destruction showed the King’s dream of equality has yet to be fully realized, Perlman said the university and community’s response in support of the bulletin board and its message showed all hope is not lost.

Just as King was willing to take a stand, faculty members and others rallied following the vandalism, Perlman said.

“This is the true meaning of Martin Luther King Jr. Day,” Perlman said at the university’s official recognition of the holiday.

Prayer vigils, peace marches and speeches were held across the state to remember and celebrate King’s life. Many of the participants weren’t even born before King was murdered in 1968.

Dorothy Butler Gilliam not only was alive, she knew King and reported on some of the major events in the civil rights movement for the Washington Post in the early 1960s. She also attended the March on Washington and heard King’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech.

“As I recall, silence engulfed the throng immediately,” she remembered. “It was such an incredible moment because he had successfully captured the burning hopes and dreams and pains of so many millions.”

Gilliam, who spoke at the UNL event, echoed Perlman’s feelings that while progress has been made toward equality, much work needs to be done.

“What do you think has happened to Dr. King’s dream?” she asked the audience of more than 200. Poor and minority children continue to fall behind, she said.

“America is more multicultural today, but it is also more segregated,” she said.

However, progress has been made, she said, adding that the civil rights movement King helped lead inspired other movements, including women’s liberation and gay rights.

King would have been 75 years old this year.