January 11, 2022 at 2:11 p.m.

Siena postpones Martin Luther King III lecture

Siena College has changed the date of its annual Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King Lecture on Race and Nonviolent Social Change, due to the current spike in COVID-19 cases driven by the omicron variant.

Civil rights advocate and global humanitarian Martin Luther King III will now visit campus on Tuesday, May 3. In addition to his lecture on "Strengthening the Bonds of Racial Justice," he will be awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters by the College. He was originally scheduled to speak Thursday, Jan. 27. "Given the current spike in COVID cases, we felt it was in the best interest of the health and safety of our campus community and the general public to move the date of this important event to later in the year," said Siena President Chris Gibson, Ph.D. "We look forward to welcoming Martin Luther King III to our campus in May." The time and campus location of the lecture will be announced later in the spring. King is the third member of his iconic family to speak at Siena: his mother, Coretta Scott King, addressed the Siena community in 1986 when she was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree. His sister, Bernice King, spoke in 2002. Siena made the strategic decision last summer to begin its spring 2022 semester a week later than usual, to help avoid an expected post-holiday increase in COVID-19 and flu cases. In-person classes are currently scheduled to begin January 24.