UR celebrates the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Campus Life
A weeklong series of events connected the UR community to the vision of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The theme, “Everyday People, Everyday Choices, Everyday Action,” spoke to the everyday people who work each day toward a just society.
“For our 2025 MLK Celebration, we set out to provide space for reflection on current and historical social justice movements, inspire action and engagements, and foster connection and belonging among participants,” said MLK Committee co-chair Cassandra Taylor-Anderson, head of access services for the Boatwright Memorial Library.
The events began with a day of service on Jan. 20, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. More than 100 students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members came together to create birthday supply bags, handwritten birthday cards, and warm flannel blankets for children who live at Elk Hill, a local residential community that offers mental and behavioral health programming, education, and skill building for children.
Students spread across the floor of the Alice Haynes Room creating no-sew blankets. The end result was blankets made from brightly-colored fabrics knotted together at the top.
Twenty-six blankets were created on-site, while participants took another 24 home with the promise to return the finished product by Feb. 3. Other volunteers gathered at tables, crafting over 250 handwritten birthday cards, and putting over 1,200 balloons and more than 150 candles in birthday supply bags. Women’s lacrosse, soccer, and field hockey teammates joined in to help.
“We did this last year, and I think it's a great way for us to get together and give back to the community,” said sophomore Caroline “C.C.” Chandler, a Spider lacrosse player. “Remembering that we’re giving the items to little kids was really sentimental because we touched back into our own childhood activities by drawing with markers, creating birthday cards, and knotting blankets.”
“I think it was a really good choice to do this on MLK Day because he did so much for his community,” Chandler said.
On Tuesday evening, guests could view notes and letters from the Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Wyatt Tee Walker Collection. Walker, who served as King’s chief of staff, was a prominent civil rights leader, developer of affordable housing, and pastor at Gillfield Baptist Church in Petersburg. The church’s current senior pastor, Dr. George W.C. Lyons Jr., offered opening remarks. The Walkers donated the collection to the University of Richmond in 2016.
Community conversations took place throughout the week. The conversations were “Making Politics Digestible to the Masses,” hosted by Thad Williamson, professor of leadership studies and philosophy, politics, economics and law; “Strengthening Our Schools,” by Wendell Roberts, school board attorney at Chesterfield County Public Schools; “Empowering Our Youth,” by Ram Bhagat, manager of school culture and climate strategy for Richmond Public Schools; and “Telling Broader, More Diverse Stories” by Joseph Rogers, director of partnerships and community engagement at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.
The week culminated with a Beloved Community March and Celebration. The event began with a march across campus, starting at the Forum and ending at the Queally Center. Senior Clayvon Grimes sang, and then Executive Director of Diversity Richmond Rev. Dr. Lacette Cross shared remarks.
Throughout the week, participants recognized everyday people who inspired them by posting their photos and stories on a display board in the Heilman Dining Center.
“Our events have brought together a patchwork quilt of students, faculty, staff, and Richmond community members that have threaded our community together and confirmed our common bonds,” said Taylor-Anderson.