A day ON, not a day off

Student activism is a hallmark of the University of Michigan, and it is through this activism that the Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives (OAMI) and the MLK Symposium were born.

While the first campus-wide observance of MLK at the University of Michigan occurred in 1986, the same year Martin Luther King Day became a national holiday, the symposium as we know it did not happen until 1988. In 1987, hundreds of U-M students led by the Black Action Movement (BAM) III and the United Coalition Against Racism (UCAR) blocked the administrative units of the university in protest of multiple racist events on campus.  Each group developed a list of demands for the university aimed at improving the enrollment of Black students and other students of color and improving the campus climate. One of the demands of BAM III was the creation of an Office of Minority Affairs, while UCAR demanded the university recognize Martin Luther King, Jr. Day by closing offices and canceling classes because, “This holiday would be a key opportunity for the university to educate and bring together majority and minority students on the problem of racism and cultural and ethnic diversity on campus.” Both demands were granted.

The Office of Minority Affairs, renamed the Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives, would take on planning the annual MLK Memorial Symposium and coordinating events across campus. Early observances adopted the national slogan “A Day On, Not a Day Off” and were kicked off yearly with a student march from the then Trotter House on Washtenaw Avenue to the Diag.

OAMI continues to serve as the proud sponsor and organizer of the MLK Memorial Symposium and works to honor the tradition by offering an educational annual lecture, bringing together the campus and community in an annual breakfast, and working with a planning committee of faculty, staff, and students who study the ministry and teachings of Dr. King to help spread his message of peace and justice across campus.