About the MLK Program

Our Mission

The MLK Program provides College of Liberal Arts students with individualized, holistic, and culturally-competent advising in support of educational equity, academic excellence, career development, and wellness. The MLK Program also provides educational programming that fosters students' engagement with and understanding of the complex issues of power, privilege, and social justice. We promote and support students' exploration of modes of advocacy and activism that enhance their capacity to imagine a more equitable and just world and to be a part of creating it. In so doing, the MLK Program supports the University’s mission to prepare students to be ethical leaders and engaged citizens.

Our History

The MLK Academic Advising Program the oldest program of its kind in the nation. It was launched in 1969 after the landmark Morrill Hall takeover by a group of African American students who were seeking greater student and faculty diversity, the establishment of the ethnic studies programs, and more robust student support services. Through this historic event, set on the heels of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., our program was envisioned. Learn more about the historic Morrill Hill takeover. 

Throughout our history, we have found inspiration and guidance in the words and actions of our program's namesake, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. For more on Dr. King's legacy in Minnesota, including a speech he gave at the University of Minnesota in 1967, please watch this special broadcast aired by Twin Cities PBS (TPT).

The program has changed over the past almost 60 years, but the goal to ensure students from historically underrepresented communities have access to the best academic resources on campus has remained the same.

Our Accreditation

The MLK Academic Advising Program is accredited by the Association of Black Cultural Centers and certified as Kingian Nonviolence Level 1 program.