Queens College Annual Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Commemoration January 18 to Recognize Award-Winning Journalist and Activist Carol Jenkins, With a Performance by Jazz Vocalist Tyreek McDole
—Cosponsored by Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, Jr. on the theme of “Where do we go from here?”—
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Shawn Choi, Kupferberg Center for the Arts: Shawn.Choi@qc.cuny.edu
Maria Matteo, Queens College: Maria.Matteo@qc.cuny.edu
WHAT: The college’s annual celebration of the life and legacy of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., featuring a recognition ceremony, keynote address, guest speakers, and a musical performance. It is cosponsored by Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, Jr. This year’s theme is “Where do we go from here?”
For more than a decade, Queens College has presented an annual commemoration celebrating the legacy of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his connection to the school where he delivered a speech in 1965 at Colden Auditorium.
Tickets are available from the college’s Kupferberg Center for the Arts website.
WHEN: Sunday, January 18, 2026 | Recognition ceremony and keynote address by event honoree Carol Jenkins at 3 pm, followed by the Tyreek McDole Quintet performance at 4 pm
WHERE: Queens College | Goldstein Theatre | 65-30 Kissena Blvd., Flushing, NY 11367 Directions | Campus Map
WHO: President Frank H. Wu will moderate. Cosponsor Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, Jr. will speak. Carol Jenkins, esteemed journalist, author, and civil rights advocate, will deliver the keynote address as the 2026 recipient of the Queens College Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Award. Queens College Student Association President Shawn Rajkumar and Queens College Black Student Union President Janil Pandey will bring greetings. The Tyreek McDole Quintet will perform.
Donovan Richards Jr., a lifelong resident of Southeast Queens, was elected borough president in November 2020. He has allocated more than $400 million in capital funding to Queens’ schools, cultural institutions, hospitals, libraries, and parks during his tenure. In the wake of Hurricane Ida, Richards formed Operation Urban Sustainability to combat climate change; and in support of the borough’s more than one million immigrants, he created the Immigrant Welcome Center at Queens Borough Hall in 2021. His efforts to rebuild the borough’s economy post-pandemic include the creation of the Queens Small Business Grant program, securing a commitment from JetBlue to keep its headquarters in Queens, and overseeing the redevelopment of both LaGuardia and Kennedy Airports. Richards has also developed programs to empower historically disadvantaged communities through such initiatives as the Youth and Young Adult Council, Downtown Jamaica Improvement Council, the Queens Tech + Innovation Challenge, and Borough Hall on Your Block.
Carol Jenkins is the founding host of the award-winning interview program Black America, now in its 11th season of conversations on the City University of New York’s television station. Black America won a 2025 national Telly Award as Best Interview Program for its interview with filmmaker Spike Lee. From her groundbreaking work as an Emmy-winning broadcast journalist amplifying stories of inequality, to her leadership as founding president of The Women’s Media Center and later as president and CEO of the ERA Coalition and Fund for Women’s Equality, Jenkins has been a driving force behind national efforts to secure constitutional equality. Her advocacy has helped build broad, inclusive coalitions committed to dismantling systemic barriers and expanding civil rights protections for all.
Tyreek McDole’s debut album Open Up Your Senses blends original songs with freedom songs and spirituals. He creates a space for reflection, unity, and collective healing. This is more than a concert—it’s a journey through sound, rooted in the rich legacy of Black American Music.
President Frank H. Wu quote: “At Queens College, we try every day to live out the values for which Dr. King stood. Whether it’s through community projects, advocacy, or educational programs, we’re always looking for ways to strengthen our connections and make a positive impact—both on campus and in our neighborhood. We’re also deeply proud of our historic connection to Dr. King. When he visited this campus in May of 1965, he left us with insights that continue to resonate sixty years later. While our society has moved forward in many ways, we know there is still important work ahead. This is both a moment to honor what’s been accomplished and a reminder to stay committed to creating a fairer, more equitable future.”
Background
Queens College has a longstanding history of involvement in the struggle for equality and social justice. In 1964, Queens College student Andrew Goodman was slain, along with fellow civil rights workers James Chaney and Michael Schwerner, during a voter registration project in Mississippi. The following spring, as the inaugural speaker in the college’s John F. Kennedy Memorial Lecture Series, Dr. King emphasized the power of peaceful resistance. Click HERE to listen to King’s 1965 speech at Queens College. In 2015, at its 91st commencement ceremony—and fifty years after Dr. King’s address—the college awarded a posthumous honorary doctoral degree to Goodman. A docuseries produced by the college, Legacy Connection: QC & Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., details the history of alumni involvement in the struggle for civil rights with a focus on its Civil Rights Archive, located in Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library’s Special Collections.
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