Siena gives honor to Martin Luther King III
Family, college have had a longtime “special connection”
Hundreds of students, faculty, elected officials and community members filled the Marcelle Athletic Complex at Siena College on Tuesday, waiting for Martin Luther King III to appear onstage.
King — the eldest son of civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. — is the third member of his family to speak at the college.
“The King family has a long tradition of special connection with Siena College, and tonight, we’re going to extend that tradition as we welcome Martin Luther King III,” said Christopher
P. Gibson, president of Siena College. “You honor us with your presence and our entire community welcomes you
and we thank you for your inspirational leadership.” As keynote speaker of the Please see ▶
35th annual Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King Lecture Series on Race and Nonviolent Social Change, King shared his appreciation for the recognition from the college.
“You don’t know how honored I am to be able to share in a lecture series named in honor of my mother and father who certainly were gigantic to me not because of what they were doing necessarily but just because they were my parents and what they represented,” King said.
With the theme of his speech being “Strengthening the Bonds of Racial Justice,” King shared a message on the importance of democracy, the fight against voter suppression, and continuing his father’s teachings of leadership and humility.
While addressing the crowd, King said, “for everyone who earnestly seeks a better world Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream must be a challenge, a beacon of light that beckons our world forward towards a better future.”
He was given an honorary doctorate of humane letters, and the entire room rose in applause.
King concluded his speech with a call to action for the students of Siena College, saying, “Be ashamed to die until you’ve done a little something to make the world in which we all must live a little better place than it was when you arrived.”