Schedule of Events

Where do we go from here: Chaos or Community?

Denison will celebrate the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the first day of spring semester, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. As with past observances of MLK Day, there will be no classes scheduled, and all other campus operations will continue as normal. Residence halls will open as usual for move-in day on Sunday, Jan. 19.

This year’s theme is drawn from King’s book Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?

For King, it was obvious that his answer to the book’s subtitle was very clear: a deeply integrated, loving community rather than segregated chaos: hope rather than despair — raising up America and making the world over.

As we enter an MLK Day that coincides with a U.S. presidential inauguration, it is incumbent upon us to ask:

How do we define community?
What does it mean to move from chaos into community?
What does it mean to have hope in America right now?
How do we create a community that aligns with King’s vision?

Building the Beloved Community: Service, Civic Engagement, and the Path Forward Panel and Resource Fair

Time: 8:30 -10 a.m.

Location: Slayter Third Floor

This event is intended to help folks navigate social change and what community means to them, find resources to get more engaged, and help individuals think about how we are stepping out of ourselves to serve the world.

MLK Legacy March and Brunch

Time: 10 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.

Location: Meet at Slayter Flagpole, march will end at the Mitchell Center.

The annual MLK Jr. legacy march commemorates the life of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This two-part event will start at the Slayter Flagpole and end at Mitchell Center for brunch, celebration, and community dialogue.

Shuttle service will be available to help individuals get to the Mitchell Athletic Center from the flagpole as needed, and from the Mitchell Athletic Center to Slayter after the brunch.

MLK Legacy Brunch

Time: 10:30 - 11:30 a.m.

Location: Mitchell Athletic Center

The MLK Legacy Brunch includes food, student and guest artist performances, and speakers.

Workshops

Time: 1:30 – 2:20 p.m. and 2:35 - 3:25 p.m. and 3:40 - 4:30 p.m.

1:30-2:20 p.m.

“Beloved community is formed not by eradication of difference but by its affirmation, by each of us claiming the identities and cultural legacies that shape who we are and how we live in the world.” - bell hooks
Responding to Martin Luther King’s ideals of beloved community and the writings of bell hooks, participants in this screenprint workshop will create their own individual t-shirts using quotes and illustrations that reflect this theme.
10 participants max.
Bryant 314

Like Martin Luther King Jr.’s advocacy for unity and justice, dance is a powerful tool for building community, expressing resilience, and inspiring change. This beginner-friendly workshop focuses on movements from the African diaspora, exploring how dance has been and continues to be a vital means of fostering connection and solidarity. Everyone is welcome to join us in this space to learn and experience the joy of movement. Whether you’re new to dance or looking to deepen your understanding, this workshop offers a welcoming environment for members of the Denison community to come together, reflect on the power of unity, and celebrate our shared humanity through the rhythms of the African diaspora.
Thorsen Dance Studio

Around the world, civil rights, social justice, and democratic politics are under attack. Experts warn that overt racism, sexism, nationalism, transphobia, anti-semitism, and white supremacy are on the rise again. As we enter an increasingly dangerous and uncertain period of global politics, what lessons can we take from past social movements to help us fight fascism and reactionary nationalism? How can we defend the political gains that figures like Martin Luther King Jr. fought and died for? This teach-in will include 2 parts: a discussion of historical examples relevant to these questions, and a series of breakout groups where we will develop concrete steps that we can take in our day-to-day lives to protect ourselves and our communities.
Burton Morgan 219

Environmental impacts, from hazardous waste to global climate change, disproportionately impact disenfranchised and marginalized groups. This session will include:
An introduction to environmental racism with a focus on the 1982 protests in Warren County, North Carolina, over the decision to dispose of 40,000 cubic yards of soil contaminated with carcinogenic chemicals in a low-income Black farming community. This event is often cited as the start of the U.S. environmental justice movement.
What Denison is doing to address sustainability challenges.
Discuss a specific community action that can be taken together.
Burton Morgan room 218

2:35-3:25 p.m.

“Beloved community is formed not by eradication of difference but by its affirmation, by each of us claiming the identities and cultural legacies that shape who we are and how we live in the world.” - bell hooks
Responding to Martin Luther King’s ideals of beloved community and the writings of bell hooks, participants in this screenprint workshop will create their own individual t-shirts using quotes and illustrations that reflect this theme.
10 participants max.
Bryant 314

Like Martin Luther King Jr.’s advocacy for unity and justice, dance is a powerful tool for building community, expressing resilience, and inspiring change. This beginner-friendly workshop focuses on movements from the African diaspora, exploring how dance has been and continues to be a vital means of fostering connection and solidarity. Everyone is welcome to join us in this space to learn and experience the joy of movement. Whether you’re new to dance or looking to deepen your understanding, this workshop offers a welcoming environment for members of the Denison community to come together, reflect on the power of unity, and celebrate our shared humanity through the rhythms of the African diaspora.
Thorsen Dance Studio

Writing in 1967, in his struggle against racism, materialism, and militarism, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. alerted all Americans that “we are faced with the fierce urgency of now, when we still have a choice between chaos and community, nonviolent coexistence or violent coannihilation.” His final book, Where Do We Go From Here. Chaos or Community? offers a path to “reestablish the moral ends of our lives in personal character and social justice.”
Now over half a century later, King’s call reverberates more than ever, urging us to consider more deeply those socio-political and ideological dynamics that led us to our current crises, and to enable meaningful action towards freedom, justice, and human rights for all. As an academic community, we are inspired by King’s “hope for living creatively in this world house that we have inherited” and ask how best activate our academic freedoms to reignite this hope at a time of great division and dehumanizing wars, radically changing information and communication landscapes, and of new challenges to these very freedoms.
In this workshop, we will consider the active pursuit of civil and human rights, social justice, and academic freedom at Denison in the past and present, and ask with Dr. King where we want to go from here.
Burton Morgan Faculty Commons

This presentation will focus on Dr. King’s interest in science fiction (as famously told by Nichelle Nichols, who portrayed Uhura on the original Star Trek), and some of the ways in which science fiction is a literary and cinematic genre that can offer hope by imagining (or dreaming) better worlds and futures, especially for those who are marginalized and dispossessed. There will be time for Q&A and discussion.
Burton Morgan 219

3:40-4:30 p.m.

“Beloved community is formed not by eradication of difference but by its affirmation, by each of us claiming the identities and cultural legacies that shape who we are and how we live in the world.” - bell hooks
Responding to Martin Luther King’s ideals of beloved community and the writings of bell hooks, participants in this screenprint workshop will create their own individual t-shirts using quotes and illustrations that reflect this theme.
10 participants max.
Bryant 314

In this workshop, Jiddu Krishnamurti’s work on understanding and connection will be presented, followed by a group discussion. Krishnamurti was a prominent philosopher who emphasized the importance of understanding and compassion as essential for humans to connect beyond social constructs such as race, ethnicity, gender, religion, and other forms of identity. Human beings, in their essence, are one; although our experiences and appearances differ, we all yearn for the same things: acceptance, love, and happiness. The workshop will also explore the role of thought and fear in creating division and injustice, starting in families and escalating to the national level. Following the brief presentation, participants will receive handouts with questions to guide their reflections and responses. The participants will then reconvene to share and discuss their thoughts.
The presenter, who is from Afghanistan and has lived in many different countries, witnessing various forms of discrimination, is excited to facilitate an enriching conversation.
Burton Morgan 219

This session explores how AI and digital misinformation can contribute to division and inequity—and how we can respond with critical thinking and collective action. By sharpening our observational skills and questioning what we see and share, we can challenge bias, stop the spread of misrepresentation, and build a more informed and just community. Together, we’ll navigate the chaos of the digital age and find pathways to truth and connection.
Burton Morgan 220

Environmental impacts, from hazardous waste to global climate change, disproportionately impact disenfranchised and marginalized groups. This session will include:
An introduction to environmental racism with a focus on the 1982 protests in Warren County, North Carolina, over the decision to dispose of 40,000 cubic yards of soil contaminated with carcinogenic chemicals in a low-income Black farming community. This event is often cited as the start of the U.S. environmental justice movement.
What Denison is doing to address sustainability challenges.
Discuss a specific community action that can be taken together.
Burton Morgan 218

Writing in 1967, in his struggle against racism, materialism, and militarism, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. alerted all Americans that “we are faced with the fierce urgency of now, when we still have a choice between chaos and community, nonviolent coexistence or violent coannihilation.” His final book, Where Do We Go From Here. Chaos or Community? offers a path to “reestablish the moral ends of our lives in personal character and social justice.” Now, over half a century later, King’s call reverberates more than ever, urging us to consider more deeply those socio-political and ideological dynamics that led us to our current crises and to enable meaningful action towards freedom, justice, and human rights for all. As an academic community, we are inspired by King’s “hope for living creatively in this world house that we have inherited” and ask how best to activate our academic freedoms to reignite this hope at a time of great division and dehumanizing wars, radically changing information and communication landscapes, and of new challenges to these very freedoms.
In this workshop, we will consider the active pursuit of civil and human rights, social justice, and academic freedom at Denison in the past and present, and ask with Dr. King where we want to go from here.
Burton Morgan Faculty Commons

MLK Day Evening Keynote Speaker Leonard Moore

NOW TUESDAY, JAN. 21 | 5 p.m. in Herrick Hall

Leonard Moore, George Littlefield Professor of American History at the University of Texas, author of Teaching Black History to White People

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Schedule of Events

Building the Beloved Community: Service, Civic Engagement, and the Path Forward Panel and Resource Fair

MLK Legacy March and Brunch

MLK Legacy Brunch

Workshops

1:30-2:20 p.m.

2:35-3:25 p.m.

3:40-4:30 p.m.

MLK Day Evening Keynote Speaker Leonard Moore

Spotlights

Denison’s ‘Rev’ is moved by a spirit of tolerance and inclusion

Denison’s ‘Rev’ is moved by a spirit of tolerance and inclusion

‘It gives us the energy to continue his legacy’

The Courage to Create a Just World

What's Happening

Out of chaos into community

Marchers celebrate life and legacy of MLK

A look back at Denison’s 2023 MLK celebrations