2025 Dr. Martin Luther King Observance

UHart will commemorate the life and legacy of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Wednesday, February 5, 2025, at 12:45 p.m. in Lincoln Theater. The 2025 theme is “I Am My Ancestors' Wildest Dreams.” The observance will include the presentation of the 2025 MLK Beloved Community Awards.

The annual observance provides an opportunity for our community to pause and reflect on the work and impact of Dr. King, while recommitting to the goal of showing empathy, respect, and understanding toward one another in an effort to make the world a better place.

The annual MLK observance program is free and open to the public. 

2025 MLK Keynotes Speakers

The theme for this year’s observance is “I Am My Ancestors' Wildest Dreams.” This theme provides us with an opportunity to reflect on the sacrifices and struggles of past generations who fought for equity and freedom. It calls on us to strive for greatness, work toward a just society, while continuing the fight for civil rights championed by Dr. King.

This observance program will feature a panel of distinguished leaders from the Connecticut region, sharing their accomplishments while inspiring pride, purpose, and hope for future generations. The four panelists are Josie Brown, Ronnell Higgins, Yolande Nicholas Spears, and Eboni Nelson. 

The program will be moderated by David Thompson ’89, M ’91, U.S. Vice President for Boston Scientific and Vice Chair for the University's Board of Regents. 

Josie Brown

Dean of Hillyer College and the College of Arts and Sciences, University of Hartford

Josie Brown, dean of the College of Arts & Sciences and Hillyer College at the University of Hartford, received her PhD in English Literature & Culture from Stony Brook University; her areas of concentrations are African American Literature, Caribbean Literature, and Post-Colonial Theory & Literature. Dr. Brown identifies as a first-generation student, an immigrant, and a lifelong learner; she is committed to helping college students achieve success both inside and outside the classroom. Dr. Brown strives to live, work, and dream in a world that supports diversity and the cultivation of a pluralistic society.

Ronnell Higgins

Commissioner, Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection

Ronnell Higgins serves as the commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP). In this role, he leads an agency of public servants dedicated to protecting and improving the quality of life for all by providing a broad range of public safety services, training, regulatory guidance, and scientific services, utilizing enforcement, prevention, education, and state-of-the-art science and technology.

Higgins is actively involved in various government and community groups. He has been recognized for his influence and unwavering dedication to his work, including being named among the "Most Influential People in Security" by Security magazine and one of the "100 Most Influential Black People in Connecticut" by the Connecticut NAACP.

Yolande Nicholson Spears

Senior Vice President of Education & Chief Community Impact Officer, Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts

Yolande N. Spears is senior vice president of education & chief community impact officer at The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, Connecticut’s premier performance venue for Broadway theatre, music, dance, children's theatre, and special events. As SVP of education, she co-created The Bushnell’s award-winning PARTNERS program lead by Mitchell Korn Arts. The program, which provides arts in education and is integrated into curriculum for students of all ages, is nationally recognized and the recipient of numerous awards, including a prestigious Dawson Award.

As an author, Spears wrote a short story, “Buttered Biscuits,” that was published in the bestselling motivational series Wake Up & Live the Life You Love. Her other book, The Gift: How Music & Family Saved a Young Girl, won the Purple Dragonfly Book Award’s 2013 national Grand Prize for excellence in children’s literature. In 2014, Spears received the Catalyst Award as a transformational leader, the 100 Women of Color Award in 2015, the Milestone Award from the National Guild for Community Arts Education in 2018, and the Remarkable Women in Business Award from the Hartford Business Journal. She was awarded the distinguished title of International Visiting Professor by the Central Academy of Drama, in Beijing, China.

Eboni Nelson

Dean and Professor of Law, University of Connecticut School of Law

Eboni S. Nelson became dean of the University of Connecticut School of Law on July 31, 2020. She came to UConn from the University of South Carolina School of Law, where she taught for 13 years. From 2018 onward, she served as the associate dean for academic affairs. Her scholarship, which has been published in numerous law review journals and other publications, focuses on education law and policy.

Dean Nelson has been recognized as one of the 100 Most Influential Blacks in Connecticut by the state conference of the NAACP and is the recipient of the 2022 George W. Crawford Black Bar Association Visionary Award. The Hartford Business Journal included her on its 2022 Power 50 List of influential leaders in the Greater Hartford area, and the Northeast Black Law Students Association named her an Inaugural Violet King Henry Woman of Excellence Honoree.

About Dr. King

Dr. Martin Luther King, a Baptist minister, scholar, and civil rights activist, was an iconic and impactful leader of the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, he non-violently fought for racial and economic equality and justice until his assassination in 1968.

King and others were the organizers of high-profile American events such as the Montgomery bus boycott, the march from Selma to Montgomery, and the 1963 March on Washington where he delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. These events and others resulted in the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.

Connecticut, and later, the University of Hartford played roles in King’s fight for equality and justice. When he was 15 years old, he came to Simsbury, Conn. to pick tobacco and, for the first time, experienced life without segregation. In his autobiography, he wrote: “After that summer in Connecticut, it was a bitter feeling going back to segregation. It was hard to understand…”

In 1959, after the Montgomery bus boycott ended and, during nonviolent protests against segregation organized by King and others in southern states, the University of Hartford invited him to deliver its Alexander S. Keller Memorial Fund Lecture at Bushnell Memorial Hall in Hartford. King’s speech “The Future of Integration,” was not without controversy as he urged attendees to not turn a blind eye to the treatment of their fellow Americans.

Join us in February to Celebrate Black History Month

Inclusive Excellence and Belonging at UHart

Save the Date for Diversity Week: March 18-23: UMatter@Hart

The University is committed to fostering a welcoming campus climate that is inclusive, and an environment where students, faculty, and staff feel safe and supported. You can learn more by exploring our webpage.