April 4^th marked 50 years since the assassination of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 

Students and faculty at Nazareth College gathered to celebrate King`s legacy on Wednesday. 

“He died for us. All he did for us to be where we are at today, I think it`s just remarkable,” said Brittney Burgess, a student.

“I think that it`s so important that we never forget Martin Luther King. He was largely inspirational and an important human being,” said another student, Jessica Tripi.

Nazareth College was one of many institutions across the nation to ring a bell 39 times in honor of the 39 years Dr. King was alive.

The bell ringing was a request made by the National Civil Rights Museum. 

“King was different, determined, and successful in implanting in many of us the way to go, said civil rights activist Dr. David Anderson. "He laid down significant footprints that are not erasable, and if we have a little bit of will, we can build on something that`s mighty solid.” 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee.