Past Programs

Since 1986, the first year of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, Washington State University has held an annual program to mark Dr. King’s birthday. Our community celebrations consist of an arts showcase, the presentation of the Distinguished Service Award winners, and a keynote speech. In the past, the event has featured renowned keynote speakers including Martin Luther King III, Arun Gandhi, Benjamin Hooks, Morris Dees, Yolanda King, Cornel West, Diane Nash, Michael Eric Dyson, and Angela Davis.

MLK Timeline

  • 1988-1989

    1988

    Keynote Speaker: Rev. Jerry Ramsey III of Bible Way Church of God in Christ in Everett, Washington

     1989

    Keynote Speaker: Rev. Calvin Butts III, executive minister of New York City’s Abyssinian Baptist Church

  • 1990-1999

    1990

    Keynote Speaker: Judge Norma Smith-Huggins, first black woman judge in King County superior court

    1991

    Keynote Speaker: Rev. Samuel D. Proctor, pastor emeritus of Abyssinian Baptist Church in NYC

    Rev. Happy Watkins recited the 'I Have a Dream' speech.

    1992

    Keynote Speaker: Dr. Maxine Mimms, founder of the Tacoma branch of Evergreen State College

    1993

    Keynote Speaker: Alma Adams, North Carolina artist, educator, and civic leader, director of humanities division and chair of visual art and humane studies at Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina

    1994

    Keynote Speaker: Dr. Julia Hare, Educational Psychologist and Motivational Specialist from San Francisco, CA

    1995

    Keynote Speaker: Martin Luther King III, son of MLK Jr., human rights advocate, community activist, and political leader

    1996

    Keynote Speaker: Patricia Russell-McCloud, attorney and motivational speaker (former chief of complaints branch at Federal Communications Commission

    1997

    Keynote Speaker: Dr. Frank Hale, Jr, former president of Oakwood College, AL.  Faculty at Ohio State, former Vice provost for Minority Affairs and social assistant to president at Ohio St.

    1998

    Keynote Speaker: Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mohandas K. “Mahatma” Gandhi, co-director and co-founder of the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence in Memphis, TN

    1999

    Keynote Speaker: Patricia Russell-McCloud, attorney and motivational speaker, former chief of complaints branch at Federal Communications Commission

  • 2000-2009

    2000

    Keynote Speaker: Dorothy Cotton, former education director for the SCLC

    2001

    Keynote Speaker: Benjamin Hooks, former NAACP executive director and King’s friend

    2002

    Keynote Speaker: Morris Dees, founder of Southern Poverty Law Center

    2003

    No information

    2004

    Keynote Speaker: Carl Mack, President of the Seattle chapter of the NAACP

    2005

    Keynote Speaker: Yolanda King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr.

    2006

    Keynote Speaker: Cornel West, activist and scholar

    2007

    Keynote Speaker: Leonard Pitts Jr., Pulitzer Prize winner

    2008

    Keynote Speaker: Eyes on the Prize documentarian

    2009

    Keynote Speaker: Henry Averhart, WSU doctoral student

  • 2010-2019

    2010

    Keynote Speaker: Robert Bauman, Associate Professor, History, WSU Tri-Cities

    2011

    Keynote speaker: President Elson S. Floyd

    2012

    Keynote Speaker: Aaron Oforlea, WSU Assistant Professor, English Department

    2013

    Keynote Speaker: David J. Leonard, WSU Associate Professor/Chair Critical Culture, Gender, and Race Studies

    2014

    Keynote Speaker: Diane Nash, 1960s civil rights activist and Michael Eric Dyson, Georgetown sociology professor and media icon

    2015

    Keynote Speaker: Angela Y. Davis, scholar and activist

    2016

    Keynote Speaker: Jasiri X, community activist, social commentator and hip hop artist

    2017

    Keynote Speaker:  Charlene A. Carruthers, a black, queer feminist community organizer and writer

    2018

    Keynote Speaker: Shaun King, writer, journalist, activist and social entrepreneur

    2019

    Keynote Speaker: Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, New York Times bestselling author, professor, and founding director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University

  • 2020-Present

    2020

    Keynote Speaker: W. Kamau Bell, sociopolitical comedian, author, and director 

    2021

    Keynote Speakers: Bree Newsome Bass, American filmmaker, speaker, and activist from Charlotte, NC

    Dr. Anthony Jack, Harvard scholar, researcher, and author of 'The Privileged Poor: How Colleges are Failing Disadvantaged Students (2019)'

    Ijeoma Oluo, Seattle-based writer, speaker, and Internet Yeller, author of the New York Times Best-Seller, 'So You want to Talk about Race (2018)' and 'Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male Power (2020)'

    Jamie Margolin, 19-year-old environmental activist, organizer, author, director, and screenwriter