Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship Banquet

2013 scholarship winner Philip McHarris ’14 will be this year's speaker

Philip McHarris ’14, an assistant professor at the University of Rochester, will be the featured speaker at the February 19 Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship Banquet, at which this year's recipient of the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship—which McHarris received in 2013—will be announced.

The event, a major gathering of the Boston College community, will take place at 5:30 p.m. in the Yawkey Center Murray Function Room.

The scholarship recognizes a Boston College junior who has demonstrated superior academic achievement, extracurricular leadership, community service, and involvement with the African American community and African American issues.

This year’s scholarship finalists are Tracy Aggrey-Ansong, Joy Babalola, Julie Canuto-Depina, Temidayo Lukan, and Esther Udoakang.

McHarris, a faculty member in the University of Rochester Department of Black Studies and Frederick Douglass Institute, pursues research on racial inequality, housing, and policing. He is currently at work on “Brick Dreams,” an ethnography-based manuscript focused on the New York City Housing Authority and the contemporary realities and challenges of public housing in America. He is the author of the forthcoming book, Beyond Policing, which traces the historical arc of policing and presents transformative visions for safety and justice.

His work has been supported by the Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship and the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. In addition to his scholarly work, McHarris has written for such media outlets as The New York Times, Washington Post, Slate, The Guardian, MTV, and Nickelodeon. His commentary has been featured by HBO, CNN, TIME, and PBS. In 2020, he was honored as one of the Root 100 Most Influential African Americans.

While at Boston College, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology, McHarris participated in the College Transition Program and the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program.

To register for the banquet, or for other information, send email to mlkjr@bc.edu.