Voices & Hands
Empowering Our Beloved Community
TUESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2026
BUCKNALL THEATER, DODDS HALL
Order of Program
Welcome & Introductions
Ophelie Y. Rowe-Allen, Ed.D.
....................................................................... Vice President of Student Affairs/ Dean of Students
Martin O’Connor ’76, M. Div, J.D. University Campus Ministry,
................................................................................ Associate Professor Fire Science
“Lift Every Voice and Sing”
Members of the Chargers Marching Band &”We Shall Overcome”
Opening Remarks
Jens Frederiksen, Ph.D.
....................................................................... President
Presentation of Awards & Scholarships
Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship .......................
Jade Roman, MPA Assistant Director, Myatt Center
Scholarship Award Recipient...................................... Antwain Johnson, ’29 Dorion Levy, ’28
Martin Luther King, Jr. Vision Awards ...............
Sheila Y. Smith, MBA, Director, Myatt Center
Joseph Scollo, University Librarian
....................................................................... Desmond Anderson, Employer Relations
Faculty Recipient .............................................................
Janet Garcia-Hallett, Ph.D.
Criminal Justice and Criminology
Student Recipients ..........................................................
Anita Omary, ’26
Charmi Bharatkumar Desai, ’26
Philip H. and Susan S. Bartels Advocacy, David A. Schroeder, Ph.D.
Leadership, & Service Award
“Still I Rise” Performance
Keynote Speaker............................................................
Interim Dean, Henry C. Lee College
Martin O’Connor, ’76, M. Div, J.D. Fire Science and Emergency Management
Jamesha Barrett, ’26, MPH, Public Health
Erik Clemons
Visionary Nonprofit Leader, CEO ConnCAT & ConnCORP
Martin Luther King, Jr. Week of Service
The Living Library
Closing Remarks .............................................................
Jade Roman, MPA Assistant Director, Myatt Center
JEDI Ambassadors
Ophelie Y. Rowe-Allen, Ed.D.
Vice President of Student Affairs/ Dean of Students
Opening Songs
Lift Every Voice and Sing
Lift every voice and sing
Till earth and heaven ring, Ring with the harmonies of Liberty; Let our rejoicing rise
High as the listening skies, Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us,
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun, Let us march on till victory is won.
Stony the road we trod,
Bitter the chastening rod,
Felt in the days when hope unborn had died; Yet with a steady beat, Have not our weary feet
Come to the place for which our fathers sighed? We have come over a way that with tears have been watered.
We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered, Out from the gloomy past, Till now we stand at last Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.
God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, Thou who has brought us thus far on the way; Thou who has by Thy might, Led us into the light,
Keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee;
Lest, our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee; Shadowed beneath Thy hand, May we forever stand.
True to our GOD, True to our native land.
We Shall Overcome
We shall overcome, We shall overcome We shall overcome some day.
Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe, We shall overcome some day.
We’ll walk hand in hand, We’ll walk hand in hand, We’ll walk hand in hand some day.
Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe, We shall overcome someday.
We shall live in peace, We shall live in peace We shall live in peace some day.
Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe, We shall overcome some day.
Keynote Speaker
Erik Clemons
Visionary Nonprofit Leader, CEO ConnCAT & ConnCORP
Erik M. Clemons is the founding CEO and President of the Connecticut Center for Arts and Technology (ConnCAT) and its sister organization, the Connecticut Community Outreach and Revitalization Program (ConnCORP). A longtime leader in education, workforce development, and community revitalization, Clemons has spent more than two decades advancing opportunities for Black, Brown, and low-income communities across Connecticut. He is currently leading a $200 million mixed-use development project in New Haven’s historic Dixwell neighborhood and co-created the Wealth Accelerator initiative with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston to address the racial wealth gap. Clemons is a lecturer in social entrepreneurship, a Fellow at Yale School of Management, and serves on multiple civic and educational boards.
Chargers Giving Back to the Community
Throughout the week, we will come together through a series of service projects designed to meet local needs and strengthen our shared connections. We invite the entire University community to join us for these service projects, whether you can stay for the full time or stop by briefly.
The following service initiatives will take place on today, from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Alumni Lounge.
• Hearts of Hope Hosted by: Hermandad de Sigma Iota Alpha, Inc.
• Blanket Making Hosted by: Alpha Phi Omega
• Birthday Bags for Foster Kids Hosted by: The Newman Club
• Food Pantry Collection
• Coat Drive
Awards
Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship Award
This is an annual award presented by the University’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Committee to students who embody the values close to the civil rights leader’s heart.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Vision Award
This annual award honors individuals or groups who exemplify Dr. King’s teachings and spirit. The selection committee for this award considers nominees whose scholarship, community engagement, leadership, or service to others has advanced one or more of the principles that Dr. King embodied: social justice, advocacy, equality, human rights, the promotion of faith, and freedom of all people.
Philip H. and Susan S. Bartels Advocacy, Leadership, and Service Award
This award was created to be the highest honor the University of New Haven presents to an individual or organization for their efforts promoting and cultivating diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, either on campus or in the greater community.
Acknowledgments
2025 Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Committee
Ophelie Rowe Allen
Sheila Smith
Jade Roman
Special Thanks
Philip H. and Susan S. Bartels
Desmond Anderson
Caitlin Truesdale
Joseph Scollo
Ric Baker Brandon Wood
Office of the Dean of Students and the Division of Student Affairs
Myatt Center for Diversity & Inclusion
Office of Marketing and Communications
