KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – Western Michigan University will host its 2026 Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration Monday, January 19, with a program the university says will focus on the call to stand against injustice.
The event at Miller Auditorium will feature a speech from author, scholar and activist Dr. Cornel West. WMU says his address will reflect King’s enduring sentiment that “our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
The presentation is free and will begin at 6:00 p.m., sponsored by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion with WMU Athletics and the Seita Scholars Program.
West, who ran for president in 2024 as an independent candidate. He has written several books, including “Race Matters” and “Democracy Matters,” and he currently holds the Dietrich Bonhoeffer chair at Union Theological Seminary. His academic career includes teaching positions at Harvard, Princeton and Yale.
“Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s words remind us that silence is never neutral; it either protects the status quo or helps create the change we say we want to see,” says Dr. Sherrie Fuller, chair of WMU’s MLK Jr. Day Celebration committee and director of education and training for the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. “MLK Jr. Day is not only a moment of remembrance but also a call to responsibility. I invite all members of the WMU community to join us; listen deeply; and leave ready to engage, advocate and act on the issues that matter most in our society.
Earlier in the day, the Lewis Walker Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnic Relations will hold the annual MLK Teach-In, “Un-Erased: Remembering What They Want Us to Forget,” in Room 1910 of Sangren Hall. The Teach-In will also be available via livestream.
Dr. David Stovall, professor at the University of Illinois Chicago and one of the nation’s leading scholars on abolitionist education and transformative justice, will welcome attendees at 1 p.m. Interactive workshops about women of the movement and healing for the formerly incarcerated will follow, and the Teach-In portion of the day will end with a student panel featuring Stovall.
The Teach-In will also launch the Walker Institute’s new campuswide campaign, History Will Not Be Erased, inviting participants to commit to everyday actions that protect historical facts.
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