The Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholars Program at NYU

“In your life’s blueprint... However young you are…You have a responsibility to seek to make life better for everybody. And so you must be involved in the struggle of freedom and justice.”- The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1967)

NYU’s MLK Scholars are members of a highly selective university leadership program dedicated to the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The program engages, educates, and empowers scholars on social justice and advocacy, for building Dr. King's vision of a "beloved community." Centered around an immersive, cohort-based learning community, this program offers a rich and unique combination of faculty engagement, travel colloquia, undergraduate research, and service-learning. As a distinctive community of students and alumni, the MLK Scholars Program has developed some of NYU's best and brightest thought leaders for over 30 years.

The First Year

MLK Scholars are selected for the program at the time of admission and join a cohort of approximately 60 fellow student social and academic leaders. The first year experience includes:

• Program Seminar - All incoming MLK Scholars are enrolled in a fall seminar (SAHS-UE2). This Seminar introduces first-year Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholars to the study of social justice in the United States through the historical lens of the Civil Rights Movement and the contemporary exploration of human rights.
• Researching Social Justice - Scholars will be introduced to research opportunities and resources, including the Program Faculty Associates. During the seminar, each student will identify a research topic in social justice of interest, furthering its development through travel colloquia.
• Travel Colloquia - Unique domestic or international travel programs tied to the curriculum and learning in the first-year seminar course and fully funded by the MLK Scholars Program. International travel, in particular, is designed to work in tandem with New York University's commitment to global learning and cooperation. Over the years, travel colloquia to domestic locations have included Alabama, Atlanta, Georgia, the Gullah Islands, New Orleans, Louisiana, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Washington D.C. International locations have included Australia, Brazil, Ghana, Greece, Israel, Morocco, Paris, Peru, Senegal, and Spain and Vietnam.

Sophomore - Senior Years

As MLK Scholars progress through their collegiate journey, they will continue to engage as a cohort, deepening their commitment to our values through regularly scheduled cohort meetings, continued civic engagement across local communities, and leadership development opportunities within and outside of the MLK Scholars program.

                    OUR VALUES

             OUR TEAM