Celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2024
Dear Howard University Community,
Throughout his storied but tragically short time on earth, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. established a strong bond with us here at Howard University. While Dr. King was unequivocally a Morehouse Man, he embodied Howard’s core values of excellence, leadership, truth, and service; Dr. King would become a regular visitor to our campus, sought academic and spiritual counsel from Howard professors, and was recruited by President Mordecai Wyatt Johnson to be dean of our University’s School of Religion.
On December 6, 1956, Dr. King delivered his first formal remarks on the grounds of the Mecca, preaching his sermon that chilly Thursday – entitled “Remember Who You Are!” – inside the hallowed halls of the Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel. “Every time I come to this campus, I am aware of the fact that I am on the campus of one of the truly great universities of this nation – of the world for that matter,” Dr. King said to that morning’s assemblage. “I have long admired the rich tradition of this University – this great contribution to the cultural and academic life of our nation – so that it is a real pleasure for me to be here today and to see each of you.”
At that moment, Dr. King was only one year removed from helping orchestrate one of history’s most famous protests: a boycott of Montgomery, Alabama’s public transit system that would persist an additional two weeks following his sermon at Rankin Chapel. The Montgomery Bus Boycott concluded on December 20, 1956 — after an astonishing 381 total days — and became a foundational event in the American civil rights movement of the 1950s and ‘60s. His sermon that December spoke to the social awakening occurring not just in Montgomery, but across the United States of America.
Dr. King was also mere weeks shy of his twenty-seventh birthday, a staggering age when we consider the responsibilities before him at that juncture of his life. At 27, he would be just five years removed from his undergraduate studies, not much older than many of the student leaders I talk with and marvel at every single day. Yet, he was already one of the leaders of a bourgeoning national movement, entrusted with facilitating (if not compelling) the integration of a country reticent to modify its modus operandi. That audacity is prevalent in our students, and not just at Howard and Morehouse, but also at our 105 fellow historically Black colleges and universities. Time and again, our communities have demonstrated that, when opportunities and resources are provided, we, too, can change the world.
Although his dream has yet to be fully realized, Dr. King’s visionary courage continues to fuel our crusades for universal justice and equity. In imploring us to “remember who we are,” Dr. King simply asks that we never lose proper perspective of our mission to leave this world a better place than we entered it. With so much in flux both domestically and abroad, Howard University is essential today just as we’ve been since our chartering. I am heartened that we are built for moments such as these.
As we commemorate Dr. King’s 95th birthday this year, and as we embark on yet another transformative year for our nation, it is imperative that we as a University once again take his wisdom to heart.
“The greatest witness that you can give is to remember who you are, and by remembering who you are, you will awaken a challenge within others to remember who [they] are,” Dr. King concluded his sermon. “And this old world will be transformed into a new world.”
His words ring as true today as they did nearly 68 years ago.
Committed to Truth and Service,
Ben Vinson III, Ph.D.
President