Fifteenth Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Held at Wellesley College

Members of the Wellesley community came together in Alumnae Hall on Monday for an event celebrating the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Wellesley College for the first time hosted The World of Wellesley’s Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast. Robbin Chapman, Associate Provost and Academic Director of Diversity & Inclusion, delivered opening remarks. 

"It takes all of us, in Wellesley and on campus, giving our time and talents, to cultivate a more inclusive community," Chapman said. "Dr. King once said: ‘It really boils down to this. All life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny, whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.’"

Chapman continued, “There is immediacy and practicality to Dr. King's philosophy, to the lessons embodied in his words and his actions – words and actions that have directly and profoundly impacted the possibilities in my life – words and actions that continue to be important to current social justice issues we grapple with today.”

The event’s keynote speaker was Jacqueline Dansler Peterson, vice president for student affairs and dean of students at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester. The program also included performances by the Kuumba Singers of Harvard College and a dance presentation by the popular Thunder Step Squad from Wellesley High School.

The World of Wellesley was founded in 1990 to support and promote racial and cultural diversity in Wellesley. Throughout the year, the organization sponsors a variety of events with a diversity theme, including a series of programs cosponsored by the Wellesley Free Library. WOW also recognizes local businesses and other organizations for actions in support of diversity.