Emory King Week
Emory University King Week is a series of programs offered January 13–24, 2026, by various Emory units to honor the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement. Programs include educational lectures, spiritual events, community service projects, celebrations, and exhibits.
This page will be updated as additional information becomes available. Check back in January for new events and final times and locations. For more information, please contact religiouslife@emory.edu.
You can find information about the King Center programming here: https://thekingcenter.org/king-holiday-2026.
Sandwich Making Party
Emory Staff Council
Friday, January 16, 2026, Noon–1:30 p.m., Campus Services Building B, Training Room B, 100 Water Tower Place, Atlanta, GA 30322
Emory Staff Council invites you to join us during Emory King Week for a sandwich-making party to support the Emory Community Fridge and Pantry. Please feel free to also bring shelf-stable items for the pantry. The Emory Community Fridge and Pantry is the only resource on campus available to those who are food insecure. For more information and live food updates, please check out our Instagram page. For any other questions or concerns, please contact Liz Carlino.
Middle School and High School Debate Tournament Volunteer Judging
Atlanta Urban Debate League
Saturday, January 17, Sutton Middle School Sixth Grade Campus, 8:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m. (partial days allowed)
The Atlanta Urban Debate League (AUDL) of the Center for Civic and Community Engagement will be hosting middle school and high school debate tournaments during King Week, and volunteer judges are needed. No debate experience necessary—training will take place the morning of the debate tournaments. Volunteers at these events will be working with minors and will need to complete an online orientation process and a background check prior to volunteering. Please contact Christy Bradley, director of the Atlanta Urban Debate League and K-12 Engagement, for additional information.
To volunteer for these and other AUDL events and to access the online orientation process, visit the AUDL page on Emory OPEN. Volunteers will get information about how to access the tournament after signing up.
Martin Luther King Jr. Scholars Breakfast Reception
Sunday, January 18, 9:30–10:45 a.m., Community Room, Convocation Hall
By invitation only. The Martin Luther King Jr. Scholars Breakfast Reception is a gathering for recipients of the Emory University MLK, Jr. Scholarship and celebrates MLK Jr. Scholars both past and present prior to the Beloved Community King Week Worship Service. Open to current and alumni MLK Jr. Scholars. For more information, contact Natasha D’Souza 03C.
Sponsors: Emory College of Arts and Sciences Advancement and Alumni Engagement, Emory Scholars Program
Beloved Community Worship King Week Sunday Service and Lunch
Rev. Cassandra Henderson 15T, Executive Director, Interfaith Children's Movement
Sunday, January 18, 11:00 a.m., Service | Noon, Lunch, Cannon Chapel
Oxford College MLK Day of Service
Monday, January 19, 9:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.
Oxford College’s annual MLK Day of Service will include breakfast, a variety of local service projects in the Oxford/Covington area, and lunch with reflection activities. Sign up through EmoryOPEN. Contact: Megan Hulgan.
57th MLK Annual Commemorative March
Monday, January 19, 449 Auburn Ave NE, Atlanta, GA
The Emory Black Student Union invites Emory students, faculty, staff, and community members to participate in the annual MLK Commemorative March in the historic Old Fourth Ward Neighborhood’s Auburn Avenue. Emory will join other community organizations from around the city to celebrate the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr. For more information, contact Dionica Bell.
Oxford Campus MLK Celebration
Rev. Dr. Robert Franklin, Speaker
Wednesday, January 21, 7:30 p.m., Old Church, Oxford, Georgia
Candler School of Theology: Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Service
Thursday, January 22, 11:00 a.m., Cannon Chapel
Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Service Awards
‘The Work Continues: Honoring the Past, Serving the Present, Shaping the Future’
Thursday, January 22, 4:00–5:30 p.m., W525 Goizueta Business School, 1300 Clifton Road
Please join Goizueta Business School, the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Rollins School of Public Health, and Emory School of Medicine in honoring the excellent service of individuals and organizations in Atlanta whose work celebrates Martin Luther King Jr.'s enduring message, “The time is always ripe to do what is right.”
African American Studies In-House Documentary: Selma at 60
Thursday, January 22, 2026, 5:00–7:00 p.m., 210 Convocation Hall
The Department of African American Studies will host a screening of a documentary featuring Emory Students and their journey to Selma, Alabama, for the 60th anniversary of the seminal civil rights movement event “Bloody Sunday” on the Edmund Pettis Bridge. The evening will also include a student-led panel reflecting on their experiences in the Imagining Democracy Lab course in conversation with faculty members Carol Anderson and Bernard Fraga. For more information, contact Chandra Ford.
Emory Unites: Art and Activism
Thursday, January 22, 6:30–8:30 p.m., National Center for Civil and Human Rights
Join the Emory Alumni Association for an inspiring evening at the newly renovated National Center for Civil and Human Rights as part of the Emory Unites series. This year's program features a fireside chat with Clint Fluker 17PhD, senior cirector of culture, community, and partner engagement at the Michael C. Carlos Museum and Emory Libraries, and Andra Gillespie, professor of political sciences and director of the James Weldon Johnson Institute for Race and Difference, who will discuss Fluker's work curating and creating art that is expressive, thought-provoking, and socially relevant. The night will also feature private access to the museum galleries and opportunities to connect with fellow alumni. This event is free of charge and sponsored by the Emory Impact Circles and the Emory Alumni Association Atlanta Networks.
Emory Day’s On
Volunteer Emory and the Center for Civic and Community Engagement
Saturday, January 24, 9:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m., Math and Science Center
More than a day off, this day on commemorates Dr. King’s legacy and celebrates Atlanta’s history in social justice and the civil rights movement. Volunteer on this day to understand and live the history we inherit, so that Atlanta and Emory can better respond and lead on current social justice issues. For questions and additional information, contact Byron Jones.
Barkley Forum for High Schools
Strength to Love World Café Dialogue
[Location], Sunday, January 25, 11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
As part of Emory University’s 2026 King Week observance, the Barkley Forum for Debate, Deliberation, and Dialogue will host a special World Café dialogue inspired by Martin Luther King Jr.’s Strength to Love (1963) during the Barkley Forum for High Schools (BFHS). Designed to honor the oral, reflective, and communal nature of King’s sermons, this dialogue will bring together 100 high school speech and debate participants for facilitated conversations centered on King’s enduring themes: the transformative power of love, faith amid uncertainty, forgiveness, nonviolence, and reconciliation.
Participation is open to BFHS competitors through advance registration. Students unable to attend due to tournament advancement can release their spot for a waitlisted participant. For questions, contact lbsmith@emory.edu. Sponsors: The Barkley Forum for Debate, Deliberation, and Dialogue and Emory Conversation Project
Special Projects and Exhibitions
Mission Possible 2: Building Community Through Health Fairness—Atlanta’s Co-Authored Research Legacy
"Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and the most inhumane."—Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (March 25, 1966)
This impactful new digital exhibition explores how Emory University, together with Atlanta-area medical schools and hospitals, has carried forward Martin Luther King’s vision from the Poor People’s Campaign into public health action. Highlighting a 40-year legacy of collaboration with the Morehouse School of Medicine at the Grady Health System and the VA Atlanta Healthcare System, this microsite features select Morehouse School of Medicine and Emory co-authored research that has helped to address health disparities and improve health outcomes in the Atlanta community over the past 40 years. These stories illuminate how academic and clinical institutions are building a healthier, more equitable Atlanta together. For more information, contact Tara Douglas-Williams.
Emory Libraries Special Resources
Emory Libraries curates a special selection of resources on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Erica Bruchko, African American Studies and US history librarian, and James Steffen, humanities team leader in the Research, Engagement, and Scholarly Communications Division at Emory Libraries and subject librarian for Film and Media, Theater, and Interdisciplinary Studies select books, ebooks, audiobooks, documentaries, and films that explore King’s remarkable life and legacy. For more information, contact Erica Bruchko.
Carlos Museum Special Installation
The Carlos Museum presents a special installation of an iconic photograph of Martin Luther King Jr. taken during his 1962 address at Emory University. The photograph, from the holdings of the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, will be on display in the Rotunda of the Carlos Museum from January 14 to 25, 2026. For more information, contact Emily Knight.
As the birthplace of Martin Luther King Jr. and the headquarters of the civil rights movement, the city of Atlanta offers many opportunities to learn and connect with the history of civil rights and ongoing initiatives to continue these efforts. Several institutions to follow include Ebenezer Baptist Church, the MLK Jr. National Historical Park, the King Center, and the National Center for Civil and Human Rights.
Walk the Atlanta Freedom Trail, which connects 10 historic Atlanta landmarks that commemorate freedom. Its eastern segment connects the Carter Center to the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Park and is about a two-mile walk. Learn more from this interactive trail map.
Emory Black History Month Programming
The events of King Week often continue into February, which is Black History Month. Please see our partner offices below for Black History Month programming.
- Advancement and Alumni Engagement
- Barkley Forum for Debate, Deliberation, and Dialogue, Campus Life
- Belonging and Community Justice, Campus Life
- Candler School of Theology
- Center for Civic and Community Engagement, Campus Life
- Department of African American Studies
- Emory College Center for Creativity and Arts
- Emory University Libraries
- Goizueta Business School
- James Weldon Johnson Institute for the Study of Race and Difference
- Laney Graduate School
- Office for Undergraduate Education
- Office of Government and Community Affairs
- Oxford College
- Rollins School of Public Health
- School of Law
- School of Medicine
- School of Nursing