Students, faculty, and members of the community gathered in Lincoln Theater for the annual observance. Jay Williams, the president and CEO of the Greater Hartford Gives Foundation, devoted much of his keynote address to events in Minneapolis, recounting in stark terms the recent shooting deaths of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti.
Williams praised those who took video of both incidents—video which often contradicted the federal government’s account of events. Williams recalled, “Back in 1965, on a college campus, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, ‘Fact is merely the absence of contradiction, but the truth is present in coherence.’ Well, the truth shortly and quickly emerged because of individuals who, in the words of Dr. King, had the strength to love and the courage to act.”
A consistent theme was that the work of the activists of King’s day, which culminated in the historic civil rights legislation of the 1960s, needs to be carried forward by a new generation. UHart President Lawrence P. Ward spoke of the role that college students—like those who fought segregation by sitting at a Greensboro, North Carolina lunch counter in 1964—have played in bringing about social change.
Lawrence P. Ward, president, University of HartfordThe beauty of our shared existence on this campus is not that we are all ultimately the same, but rather that we can learn to appreciate how each of us is wonderfully different.
“I am more convinced than ever that you need to understand the importance of history and your own place within that history,” Ward said. “As problem solvers and difference makers, you have the same opportunity in 2026 as the college students in the 1960s and 70s to lend your gifts and your talents and your passion, your light, to the human condition, to break down cultural barriers.”
The event also honored students, faculty, staff, and alumni who exemplify what King called the beloved community. Six Beloved Community Awards were presented this year.
“The beauty of our shared existence on this campus is not that we are all ultimately the same,” Ward said, “but rather that we can learn to appreciate how each of us is wonderfully different.”
“I love celebrating Martin's legacy,” he continued, “because it provides the space to reflect and focus on that which inspires, motivates, and convinces us to shake off our fears and misgivings, learn something new and take action. Not for any selfish reason, not to serve some political or personal ambition, but rather, as Dr. King described, to be there in love and in justice and in truth, and in commitment to others, so that we can make of this old institution a new one.”