Mike Parker: Dr. King: Student before Legend
Photo: Dr. King Martin Luther King Jr. delivers a sermon on May 13, 1956, in Montgomery, Alabama.
Every school child knows – or should know – about Dr. Martin Luther King’s importance to the Civil Rights Movement. We have all heard stories about his fight for equality. We know he died on April 4, 1968, struck down by an assassin’s bullet as he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee.
But how many understand that in addition to being a courageous leader, Dr. King was also a serious student?
How about a riddle? Although Dr. King never finished high school, he was not a dropout. How could this be?
Dr. King was such an outstanding student as a young man that he skipped the ninth grade altogether. His college entrance examination scores were so high that he was offered early admission to Morehouse College at the end of his junior year.
Even though Dr. King never formally graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in Atlanta, he was not a dropout. Instead, based on his excellent high school record and outstanding test scores, Dr. King began his studies at Morehouse at just 15 years old.
Early admission to college did not affect his academic performance in college. He graduated four years later – at age 19 – with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology. The same year, he was ordained as a Baptist minister.
Still, Dr. King knew he needed more preparation, so he entered Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania. While attending Crozer, he also studied at the University of Pennsylvania.
At 19 years old, when most students are early in their college career and some are still in high school, Dr. King was a graduate student. Although Dr. King was the youngest student in his seminary class, he was elected president of his senior class – a class composed predominantly of white students. He was the seminary’s top graduate and delivered the valedictory address when he received his Bachelor of Divinity degree from Crozer in 1951.
In September of 1951, Dr. King used the J. Lewis Crozer fellowship, which recognized the excellence of his work at the seminary, to begin doctoral studies in Systematic Theology at Boston University. He also studied at Harvard. He completed his dissertation, “A Comparison of God in the Thinking of Paul Tillich and Henry Wieman,” in 1955, and received his Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Systematic Theology from Boston University on June 5, 1955.
Let’s do some math: four years in college plus three years in seminary plus four years at Boston University totals 11 years of post-secondary education.
We tend to overlook an important fact: the leader Dr. King became rested firmly on his extensive educational foundation. His studies led him to explore the writings of Gandhi, and Gandhi's influence helped Dr. King develop his philosophy of nonviolent protest.
Dr. King became an inspiring preacher because of his commitment to education. Dr. King became an insightful social critic because of his commitment to education. Dr. King became an effective leader because of his commitment to education.
Those who truly want to honor his legacy must never forget that Dr. King prepared himself as a scholar to become the man behind the legend.
The rest is history.
Mike Parker is a columnist for the Neuse News. You can reach him at mparker16@gmail.com.
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