Observing Martin Luther King Jr. Day

President Laurie L. Patton sent the following message to the campus community today. 

Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff, 

This Monday, January 15, as we celebrate the deep legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in a national day of remembrance and service, I encourage us all to reflect with honesty and intention on Dr. King’s call for unity in action. 

In the days leading up to the holiday, I have been reading Dr. King’s book Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? This was one of the last works he wrote, while in retreat in Jamaica in 1967. It is fascinating and moving to read his vision for the future as the world changed around him. The very title of the book is relevant to questions we too might ask of ourselves in tumultuous times. 

As individuals and communities, we may follow the example of Dr. King in a variety of ways: through service, education, contemplation, and civic engagement. Whatever way we choose, I hope that we can take the day to redouble our commitment to study and act, as King did, in the service of full democratic participation for all, challenging social and racial inequities and working with others to resolve them. This spirit is at the heart of what it means to educate our students to address the world’s most challenging problems in pursuit of our educational mission. 

Yours in hope, 

Laurie Patton