MLK Legacy Day Asks: What Will You Do with Your Education?

As speakers took the stage at Babson College’s Martin Luther King Jr. Legacy Day last week, they brought their memories with them. 

Specifically, they brought memories of their moms and dads. The theme of the annual event, now in its 23rd year, was The Power, Purpose, and Promise of Education. As they spoke to a packed house at the Carling-Sorenson Theater, several speakers recalled their parents and the value they placed on education. 

Sadie Burton-Goss talked of her childhood and the wise words of her mother. “While sitting between her knees, getting my hair braided, she would often say, ‘Baby, get your education. It is the only thing they can’t take away from,’ ” said Burton-Goss, Babson’s chief inclusive excellence officer.  

As the daughter of parents who were sharecroppers, Denicia Ratley said she carries a deep awareness of the power of education. Her parents labored in fields of cotton, sometimes tobacco, every morning except Sunday.  

“If they did not meet their required quota, they were not allowed to attend school, or they were forced to arrive late and exhausted,” says Ratley, College chaplain and senior director of belonging and inclusion. “I am reminded of their strength, their sacrifice, and their unwavering hope for a better future through education.” 

That hope for a better future hasn’t faded. While MLK Legacy Day speakers looked back, they also considered the present moment, wrestling with the responsibilities that come with earning an education that changes the trajectory of a life. That’s the type of education many are still struggling to seek.  

“If Dr. Martin Luther King was with us today,” Ratley said, “I believe he might remind us that just because we have a seat at the table does not mean our work is finished.” 

Living Up to the Promise 

At Legacy Day every year, the Babson community comes together to honor and reflect upon King’s life and legacy and what it means for today. Babson’s Office of Belonging and Inclusion, BabsonArts, and the College’s MLK Committee sponsored this year’s event. 

 “As I reflect on Dr. King’s teaching, I ask myself: How can I lead with courage and compassion?” Babson President Stephen Spinelli Jr. MBA’92, PhD told the audience in a video address. “How can I contribute to a world where opportunity is shared and voices are heard?” 

This reflection, on the work that people can do to raise up others, was also one of the themes of keynote speaker Derron Wallace. An associate professor of education policy and Africana studies at Brown University, the sociologist is the author of the acclaimed book The Culture Trap: Ethnic Expectations and Unequal Schooling for Black Youth. 

Like other speakers at Legacy Day, Wallace recalled his parents. He remembered how, on a muggy summer day, they drove him from the Bronx to Massachusetts to begin his college education. “They did so with love,” he said, “and with a clear-eyed sense that a college education was a hard-earned resource that no one in my immediate or extended family had ever received.” 

They also demanded compassion in his educational pursuits. They warned him not to become an “educated idiot,” someone who uses education to separate himself from others and ignore the challenges of society. “My parents understood deep in the marrow of their bones the purpose, power, and promise of education,” he said. “Like Dr. King, they thought of education as a vehicle for social mobility and social transformation.” 

That social transformation, however, is not available to all. King may have believed that education was a “key lever of change in society,” Wallace said, but that promise is threatened by school segregation, which continues to linger decades after the landmark Supreme Court decision, Brown v. Board of Education. 

“School segregation is now on the rise and has been sharply rising since the 1980s,” Wallace said. “The state of education is not wildly different from it was in the 1960s.” 

That segregation fuels inequality. “Segregation shapes educational outcomes because it concentrates Black and Hispanic students in higher poverty schools,” Wallace said, “which results in unequal learning opportunities.” 

Lift Every Voice 

Several times during his talk, Wallace addressed the audience and asked them a version of the same question: What will you do with your education? He challenged them to use it to empower others in schools and society. “I say the power of your education lies in your capacity to act with it for social good,” he said. “The purpose, power, and promise of education is to make others free as education makes us free.” 

As it does every year, the Legacy Day event took time to honor the leaders and creators who are seeking to enrich and make change in society. This year’s Creative Contest, in which participants create works of art inspired by King’s legacy, honored Ethan Nouchi ’29 (first place), Ja-riel Bailey ’28 (second place), and Sarone Terefe ’29 (third place). 

The Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Awards, meanwhile, honored members of the Babson community who reflect King’s principles and ideals. This year’s recipients included: Semaj Cormier ’27 (Undergraduate Leadership Award), Nana Opoku MSBA’25 (Graduate Leadership Award), Matthew Kinnemore (Staff Leadership Award), Nada Hashmi (Faculty Leadership Award), and Gerald Watson ’76 (Alumni Leadership Award). 

After all the speeches were finished and awards given out, Legacy Day concluded with song. As the lyrics to “Lift Every Voice and Sing” flashed on the screen, attendees stood together and did just that.