Syracuse Sun

Sarah Willie-LeBreton, president of Smith College and a sociologist, addressed nearly 1,200 attendees at the 40th Annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration held in Syracuse's JMA Wireless Dome. Expressing her connection to the city, she stated, “Although I have not lived here for 50 years, Syracuse, the place of my first days, lives in my heart.”

Willie-LeBreton is the daughter of Charles V. Willie, Syracuse University’s first Black full professor and vice president who had a significant role in bringing Martin Luther King Jr. to the university in the early 1960s.

Chancellor Kent Syverud opened the event with remarks reflecting on King's enduring message: “Challenges and injustices persist, but his message urges us to act,” he said. The theme of this year’s celebration was “Living History.”

In her speech, Willie-LeBreton emphasized the transformative role of higher education over six decades and its connection to King’s work. She stated that educational institutions are crucial as they intersect with democracy's development: “The subjects explored in the university quite literally drive us forward as a species.”

She urged educators to create respectful spaces for learning amid contemporary challenges: “We have to be with people who are different from us, and we have to stay in relationship with them.”

Willie-LeBreton proposed two ways to honor King’s legacy: resisting narratives that undermine educational institutions and engaging in dialogue with those holding differing views. She encouraged honoring education as a human right and fostering dignity through attentive listening.

“If we do these things,” she concluded, “we will bring fellowship to each other and the world neighborhood of which King spoke.”

The evening featured performances by the Community Choir and Black Celestial Choral Ensemble and recognized Unsung Hero Award recipients including Andrea-Rose Oates ’26, James K. Duah-Agyeman, Isaiah Pollard from SCORE organization, Laurence Segal, and posthumously Jamie Jackson.