Martin Luther King Jr. Week

An annual campus community gathering to honor the life and legacy of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. through questioning, learning, discussion, community engagement and art.
Bucknell's Martin Luther King Jr. Week brings various artists, activists, community partners, and scholars to campus to engage our community in a conversation about Dr. King's vision, legacy and philosophies with regard to current struggles.
Events during this week include several performances, lectures, workshops, and discussions designed to raise awareness, encourage conversations and empower participants to enact individual and collective change.
MLK Week 2026
The Time Is Always Right to Do Right
Bucknell University's 2026 MLK Week theme, The Time Is Always Right to Do Right, underscores the enduring urgency of Dr. King's call to ethical action. This phrase was used in his Commencement Address at Oberlin College on June 14, 1965, titled Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution, in which he argued against passively waiting for justice and emphasized the immediate imperative to stand for what is right. The 2026 theme aims to challenge our community to attend to King's calls to reflect on and actively work toward a more just and equitable world at this moment in time, recognizing that inaction is never a neutral stance.
*Variations of these words appear in many of Dr. King's other speeches and writings.
The time is always ripe to do right. (Letter from a Birmingham Jail, 1963)
The time is always right to do right. (The Other America, Stanford, 1967)
The MLK Week Committee meets monthly to discuss theme ideas and plan specific events for MLK Week. As part of this process, we are seeking proposals from departments, organizations, clubs, and offices, etc. who would like to develop workshops, panels, performances, community outreach and other creative events around the 2026 theme, The Time Is Always Right to Do Right. A small amount of funding is available to support events. The committee asks that departments, colleges, student groups, and other units across campus consider ways they can contribute resources to help support and/or fund proposed events. In an effort to ensure that there is a balanced set of events that meaningfully engage King's evolving vision, philosophies, and legacies in ways that go beyond a simplified whitewashing of his words, intentions and deeds, the committee will read all proposals and select among them to create a balanced set of events. Please note that submission of a proposal does not guarantee inclusion in the official 2026 MLK Week schedule; proposals will be reviewed as received.
If you would like to propose an event to be included in MLK Week 2026 between Jan. 19 and Jan. 30, please fill out this form by Nov. 1, 2025. The committee will organize a schedule of events within the first two weeks of the semester to complement the keynote lecture on the evening of Monday, Jan. 26, 2025.
Previous MLK Week Themes
To access an MLK Week video or audio recording you will be asked to log in with your Bucknell credentials. If you are interested in seeing a video, but do not have Bucknell credentials, please email griot@bucknell.edu with your request.