Boston University

Boston University
Boston University · Public domain · source
Name	Boston University
Established	1839
Type	Private research university
City	Boston
State	Massachusetts
Country	United States
President	Kenneth W. Freeman
Affiliations	Association of American Universities

Boston University

Boston University (BU) is a major private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1839, it has played a significant role in the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, most notably as the alma mater of Martin Luther King Jr. and as a center for social justice education and student activism. Its institutional history, academic programs, and community have been deeply intertwined with the struggle for racial equality and social reform.

Historical Context and Early Ties to Social Reform

Boston University's origins are rooted in Methodist traditions of education and social service, which emphasized moral character and public engagement. Established by the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university was initially located in Newbury, Vermont, before moving to Boston in 1867. This period coincided with the Reconstruction era and early progressive reform movements in the United States. The university's early ethos encouraged a commitment to addressing societal ills, a principle that would later align with civil rights activism. While not a historically black institution, BU's urban location in a city with a strong abolitionist history provided a context where issues of race and justice were prominent.

Martin Luther King Jr. and the School of Theology

The most profound connection between Boston University and the Civil Rights Movement is through Martin Luther King Jr., who earned his Ph.D. in systematic theology from the Boston University School of Theology in 1955. King was deeply influenced by the personalist philosophy taught by professors like Edgar S. Brightman and L. Harold DeWolf. This intellectual framework, which affirmed the inherent dignity and worth of every person, became a cornerstone of his philosophy of nonviolence and his theological justification for the movement. His dissertation was titled "A Comparison of the Conceptions of God in the Thinking of Paul Tillich and Henry Nelson Wieman." The university holds a substantial collection of King's personal papers in its Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center.

Student Activism and Campus Protests

Throughout the 1960s, Boston University was a site of significant student activism. The Boston University Student Government and groups like the BU Afro-American Society organized protests, teach-ins, and demands for greater university responsiveness to civil rights issues. Students participated in local busing protests against de facto segregation in Boston Public Schools and supported national movements. In April 1965, a group of BU students, including a young Saul Alinsky-trained organizer, participated in a freedom ride to Selma, Alabama, following the Selma to Montgomery marches. Campus protests also focused on university governance and the creation of a Black studies curriculum, reflecting the broader Black Power movement on American campuses.

Academic Programs and Research in Civil Rights

Boston University has developed formal academic structures dedicated to the study of civil rights and social justice. The African American Studies Program (now the African American & Black Diaspora Studies program) was established to provide scholarly focus on the history and culture of the African American experience. The Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground, named for the influential theologian and BU dean Howard Thurman (a mentor to Martin Luther King Jr.), is dedicated to dialogue and community building across differences. Faculty research has contributed extensively to the field, with historians and social scientists publishing seminal works on Southern history, legal history, and the long civil rights movement.

Notable Alumni and Faculty in the Movement

Beyond Martin Luther King Jr., Boston University counts many other influential figures from the Civil Rights Movement among its alumni and faculty. Howard Thurman, as Dean of Marsh Chapel, was a seminal spiritual voice whose book Jesus and the Disinherited deeply influenced King. Barbara Jordan, the first African American elected to the Texas Senate after Reconstruction and a famed U.S. Congresswoman, earned her law degree from Boston University School of Law. Civil rights lawyer and co-founder of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Julius LeVonne Chambers, also graduated from the law school. Faculty members like Molefi Kete Asante, a founder of Afrocentricity, have advanced academic discourse on race and culture.

Institutional Legacy and Commemoration

Boston University actively commemorates its civil rights legacy. The university's Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial is a prominent campus landmark. Each year, it hosts a series of events during Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Black History Month. The Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center not only houses the King papers but also the collections of other key figures like Coretta Scott King. The institution continues to grapple with this legacy through ongoing initiatives in diversity, equity, and inclusion, community partnerships in Boston, and academic programming that examines systemic inequality. This institutional memory ensures that the university's historical role in the movement informs its contemporary mission.