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This year St. Olaf College will honor and recognize Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a federal holiday by not holding classes on Monday, January 16, and making the day a holiday for staff, faculty, and students.

“Holding this day as a college holiday is an important way to honor Rev. Dr. King’s teachings around social justice, oppression, community, and social change,” says Taylor Center for Equity and Inclusion Director Martin Olague ’04, who chairs the St. Olaf MLK Day Committee that advocated for making it a college holiday. “With this time off, it’s not about having time off. It’s about giving our students the time and space needed to do the work in their own way.”

Holding this day as a college holiday is an important way to honor Rev. Dr. King’s teachings around social justice, oppression, community, and social change.Taylor Center Director Martin Olague ’04

While students, faculty, and staff will not have classes or work on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the college will host events to honor the memory and legacy of the renowned civil rights leader.

On Thursday, January 12, the Taylor Center hosted a community keynote address by Associate Professor of Religion Anthony Bateza titled “Radical Imagining.” Bateza is the director of the Race and Ethnic Studies program and chair of the Race, Ethnic, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Department. He is personally and professionally invested in questions of race, identity, and social justice, and he has written about Black liberation theology and connections between Lutheran teaching and confronting racism in the United States.

In addition to Bateza’s address, the event also included a performance by the Black Ensemble and remarks by St. Olaf student AD Banse ’23. The event was streamed and is available on-demand below.

On Monday, January 16, St. Olaf students will read excerpts from Martin Luther King Jr.’s speeches beginning at 12 p.m. in the Buntrock Commons Crossroads.

On Tuesday, January 17, St. Olaf student Brent Sykes ’24 will deliver a Martin Luther King Jr. Day chapel talk at 10:10 a.m. in Boe Memorial Chapel. 

“Our goal through all of these events is to highlight ways to re-imagine this work and the ways we can continue Rev. Dr. King’s legacy into the future,” Olague says. “We invite the entire St. Olaf community to come together, learn, and reflect on the message given to us by Rev. Dr. King.”

Our goal through all of these events is to highlight ways to re-imagine this work and the ways we can continue Rev. Dr. King’s legacy into the future. We invite the entire St. Olaf community to come together, learn, and reflect on the message given to us by Rev. Dr. King.Taylor Center Director Martin Olague ’04

Additional ways that St. Olaf community members can celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day include:

• The “Welcoming and Inclusive Communities” celebration hosted by the City of Northfield’s Human Rights Commission on January 16 at 7 p.m. at Emmaus Church.
• The 33rd Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Breakfast in Minneapolis. The keynote speaker for this year’s breakfast is Valerie Jarrett, the chief executive officer of the Barack Obama Foundation and a long-serving senior advisor to the 44th president.
• The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board’s annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration. This year’s keynote speaker is Minnsota coaching icon Larry McKenzie.