2016 Journey Award
The Journey Award was created to recognize the work of individuals from Princeton’s student body, faculty and staff who are continuing Dr. King’s journey and making a difference on campus. Specifically, this work should involve civil or human rights measures and should be performed above and beyond an individual’s given role as a student, faculty or staff member. Individuals can be recognized for life time contributions or for one specific event or undertaking.
The hope is that this significant award will encourage recipients to continue their work and inspire others on campus to undertake such journeys. If you know of deserving recipients and have the time to gather appropriate support materials, we encourage you to submit nominations on a rolling basis to MLK Entry. If you cannot think of deserving recipients, we hope Dr. King's life and legacy prompts you to consider taking a journey.
About the Journey Award
"What is needed is a realization that power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.”
“When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds of despair, and when our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, let us remember that there is a creative force in this universe, working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil, a power that is able to make a way out of no way and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows. Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.”
— Excerpts from “Where Do We Go From Here?”
Martin Luther King Jr., 1967
Martin Luther King Jr. was a powerful advocate for human rights who became one of the most noted African Americans in history. Yet even King acknowledged that his work represented the continuation of a journey started by others before him, including some of his personal mentors and heroes such as Dr. Benjamin E. Mays, Jesus Christ,
A. Philip Randolph and Mahatma Gandhi. King also predicted that the journey would not end with his own death. In his last speech, on the eve of his assassination, he said: “I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.”
King often warned that this journey was not an easy path but a courageous one. In his 1967 address, “Where Do We Go From Here?” King said: “I must confess, my friends, the road ahead will not always be smooth. There will still be rocky places of frustration and meandering points of bewilderment. There will be inevitable setbacks here and there. There will be those moments when the buoyancy of hope will be transformed into the fatigue of despair. Our dreams will sometimes be shattered and our ethereal hopes blasted. … Difficult and painful as it is, we must walk on in the days ahead with an audacious faith in the future.”
The MLK Day Journey Award has been created to recognize annually a member of the Princeton University faculty, staff or student body who best represents the continued journey. Nominees should be people who support King’s philosophy and teachings and who have actively contributed to the improvement of civil rights and/or human rights. Preference is given to candidates who have positively affected the Princeton University campus and/or community.
The Journey Award is presented during the University’s King Day celebration, which is held on the national King Holiday, the third Monday of each January. A panel of judges select the award recipient from among the nominees submitted. While only faculty, staff or students are eligible to win this award, any member of the campus community, including alumni, may nominate candidates. Nomination submission forms (.pdf) may be submitted throughout the year. To be considered for 2016, please submit nominations by Dec. 4, 2015 to mlkentry@princeton.edu.
2016 Journey Award
Princeton Hidden Minority Council, for Special Achievement
2015 Journey Award
2014 Journey Award
Larry A. Spruill, for Lifetime Service
2013 Journey Award
Karen Jackson-Weaver, for Special Achievement
2012 Journey Award
Miguel A. Centeno, for Lifetime Service
Sandra N. Mukasa, for Special Achievement
2011 Journey Award
Thomas A. Parker, for Lifetime Service
Josue Lajeunesse, for Special Achievement
2010 Journey Award
Janet Smith Dickerson, for Lifetime Service
2009 Journey Award
William A. Massey, for Lifetime Service
2008 Journey Award
John Templeton, for Lifetime Service
Anna Almore, for Special Achievement
2007 Journey Award
The MLK Day Committee elected not to bestow a Journey Award in 2007.
2006 Journey Award
Albert Raboteau, for Lifetime Service
2005 Journey Award
Robert K. Durkee, for Lifetime Service
Dylan H. Tatz, for Special Achievement