Public Statements

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

January 15, 2024

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Dear Members of the Hamilton Community,

Fifty-five years after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s death, we can – and should – take inspiration from what he said and did.

In 1957, following the success of the now famous Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott, Dr. King declared that “life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’”

Always worth asking, anywhere and everywhere, that question is especially appropriate for a college community, like ours, dedicated to preparing students for lives of meaning, purpose, and active citizenship.

And that question is at the heart of this year’s MLK Day observance. Chosen by the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, the 2024 theme is a call to active participation in promoting racial justice, equality, and understanding: “It Starts With Me: Shifting the Cultural Climate Through the Study and Practice of Kingian Nonviolence.”

As we mark MLK Day this year, I ask all Hamiltonians to consider how we might fulfill Dr. King’s call to serve others. And to remember his advice: “You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”

One first step might be to spend a few minutes reading or watching one of Dr. King’s iconic speeches. You might also choose to participate in one of the online offerings of the King Center. And I encourage you to attend the MLK Dinner in the Tolles Pavilion on Thursday, Jan. 25, and to talk with your friends, classmates, and colleagues about Dr. King’s legacy and what it means today.

David