President Addresses MLK Breakfast
President Susan A. Cole delivered the keynote address at the 46th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Breakfast at the YMCA of Newark and Vicinity.
At the January 13 event, Cole urged the audience of local leaders and community members to remember Dr. King’s extraordinary legacy and asserted that affordable, quality education is a foundation of a free and democratic society. “I am absolutely certain that a better tomorrow depends upon the quality of the education we provide to the rising generations who we have in our care,” Cole said.
Cole pointed to the impact Montclair State makes in communities, by supporting schools with federally funded programs such as the Urban Teacher Residency in Newark, which embeds graduate students – who commit to three years of teaching after graduating – in the city’s schools. Cole also noted that more than $3 million in corporate and foundation grants is helping the University to prepare science teachers for Newark schools, support summer programs for students in environmental and computer science, and bridge programs in the performing arts.
“I promise that our University is here to stand with you as we wrestle with the awesome challenges we face to build the society our children deserve, taking with us Dr. King’s optimism, refusal to despair, and absolute faith that when people get caught up with that which is right and they are willing to sacrifice for it, there is no stopping point short of victory,” she said.
To read Cole’s full remarks, visit montclair.edu/president/speeches.