Saint Michael’s College celebrates multi-day MLK event with focus on radical empathy
The legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. endures and continues to inspire, even after 33 years of Saint Michael’s College celebrating its MLK Convocation.
For this year’s four-day celebration, the College is hosting a variety of events that link the past to the present while the campus continues to strive for the future that Dr. King envisioned, which he called the “Beloved Community.”
The 2025 theme is Beloved Community: Radical Empathy. Three featured speakers will give addresses on topics ranging from bridging divides through radical empathy, Dr. King’s relevance in his time and ours, and how a connection of white New England women to southern Black women forged through the postal system further fueled the Civil Rights Movement.
Additional talks that will take place include a reflection on non-violent dissension, what the founding fathers enshrined into the U.S. Constitution concerning race and gender, and a look at the unique perspectives of international students studying at Saint Michael’s. The senses also get involved – participants can help paint an art installation and listen to a performance by the Saint Michael’s College gospel choir.
More than a dozen events will take place between Jan. 20 – 23. While major convocation events usually occur on MLK Day, featured speaker presentations are planned for Jan. 21 and Jan. 22 this year to prevent overlap with events of the U.S. presidential inauguration on Jan. 20.
Saint Michael’s proud history with the Civil Rights Movement
The Edmundites – the Catholic wing that founded Saint Michael’s College – participated in the Civil Rights Movement in the southern U.S. during the 1960s and has a long history of engaging in social justice issues and being a liberal, inclusive religious college, according to Saint Michael’s MLK Convocation co-chair, Vernita Weller.
Vernita Weller, Saint Michael’s College Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Convocation Co-Chair, sings during the 2024 MLK festivities.
“Long before the whole DEI phraseology was even a popular thing, the school has always been dedicated to social justice and to engaging with cultural issues, social issues, the needs of the poor, the needs of the marginalized and disadvantaged,” Weller said. “This has been the legacy of Saint Michael’s.”
Weller’s own family has a history with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In April 1965, her father, who was a Lutheran pastor, was part of a group of Black ministers in Boston who helped plan Dr. King’s visit and with him led a 22,000-person march concerning education. Dr. King’s notion of the “Beloved Community,” which is at the core of Saint Michael’s MLK Convocation and DEI statement, resonates with her even more closely.
The statement, which each student receives, best exemplifies how the College community interprets the ideals of a Beloved Community, Weller said.
Find the college’s full Beloved Community statement here. >>
Sutherland speaker Terri Givens talks radical empathy
Terri Givens will speak during Saint Michael’s College 33rd Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Convocation.
2025’s Convocation event will be led by a presentation from Political Science Professor, Terri Givens, from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Givens is also the author of the books Radical Empathy: Finding a Path to Bridging Racial Divides and The Roots of Racism: The Politics of White Supremacy in the US and Europe. In 2025, her book Reckoning: Creating Positive Change through Radical Empathy is expected to publish.
Givens’ keynote address will focus on the role of radical empathy in bridging divides. Her books, research, and life experiences will inform her talk. She is also expected to discuss the intersection of immigration and race in politics.
This talk is part of the Saint Michael’s College Sutherland Lecture Series which brings leading thinkers and scholars to campus to speak on issues in the liberal arts and sciences since 1998, thanks to a generous gift from former College Trustee Donald J. Sutherland.
Givens’ presentation, Radical Empathy: Taking Action/Bridging Divides, will take place on Wednesday, Jan. 22 at 4 p.m. in the McCarthy Arts Center Recital Hall.
More information about the event and Terri Givens’ bio can be found here. >>
Q&A with Terri Givens, in advance of her Saint Michael’s College address. >>
Other featured speakers: Reverend talks Dr. King’s relevance and UVM prof tells little-known story of Civil Rights Movement via USPS
Saint Lawrence University Chaplain, Reverend Dr. Shaun Whitehead, joins the Convocation festivities with an address on Tuesday. The title of her speech is “Martin Luther King, Jr., Yesterday and Today: Walk Together Children, Don’t Ya Get Weary.” Dr. Whitehead’s presentation will occur on Tuesday, Jan. 21 from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the Dion Family Student Center’s Roy Room on the building’s third floor.
Adding to the special addresses is one from University of Vermont History Professor Pamela N. Walker, Ph.D. The title of Dr. Walker’s presentation is “Sending Sisterhood: Building Benevolent Beloved communities through the United States Postal System.”
Dr. Walker will discuss the Mississippi Box Project, a women’s social movement from the 1960s. Relationships were forged between Black women in Mississippi and white women in New England who used the mail to correspond, send supplies, and provide movement information. The thousands of individuals involved were instrumental in boosting the Civil Rights Movement. Dr. Walker’spresentation will be Tuesday, Jan. 21 from 2:45 p.m. to 3:50 p.m. in the Dion Family Student Center’s Roy Room.
Check out a photo gallery from last year’s Convocation below.
Groups own the planning, find individual significance
Weller said while Saint Michael’s College doesn’t have much diversity in its student and faculty body, the Convocation is an opportunity to grow in the area of race, racial engagement, education, and exposure. Learning individuals’ stories creates empathy and sensitivity, in general, and leads to treating fellow humans with respect and understanding. Allyship prevents seeds of hate from taking root and assists the growth of community, she said.
For this year’s Convocation, groups were able to plan their own activities in addition to the main events which revolve around the featured talks. Weller found it gratifying to see how other groups on campus are taking the Beloved Community concept and interpreting it in ways that are meaningful to them. She pointed out the activities that engage the senses through visual art, music, and creations in the Maker Space, which she said provide for a more holistic expression of celebration.
The Fierce Urgency of Now community mural, which was painted to reflect the theme of the 2024 Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Convocation at Saint Michael’s College. (Photo by Cat Cutillo)
“Whenever people engage in something, whenever people put themselves into something, it becomes meaningful and it becomes a part of them,” Weller said.
She likened the experience to when white college students from the north traveled to the deep south during the Civil Rights Movement and participated in sit-ins and marches, rode buses with Black people, and endured some of the same persecution. She said the taste, feel, smell, and pain of the experiences as well as hearing stories changed those students as individuals.
She said it’s difficult to empathize and find meaning from afar.
“It’s when you become part of something,” Weller said. “It’s when you create something that you can contribute to the space, or when you can sing and you’re practicing with people, or when you are making something and it makes you feel you are part of something bigger than yourself – it absolutely, absolutely changes you, grows you.”
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