Interested undergraduates and graduate students are invited to submit creative responses for this year’s Student Voices Award as part of the annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration coordinated by the Africana Center, Tisch College of Civic Life, the Office for Inclusive Excellence and the University Chaplaincy. The winning Student Voices submission will receive a cash prize of $500.  

Submissions must relate to the 2026 MLK Celebration theme, as captured in this 1963 “I Have a Dream” excerpt:  

“Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy...Now is the time to make justice a reality to all of God's children. We cannot walk alone. As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. No, no, we are not satisfied and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”  (Source: Excerpts from I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King, Jr. © Copyright 1963 by Martin Luther King, Jr.) 

Submissions and submitters can engage with thematic questions like:  

• What does “not walking alone” mean to you?  

• How do you imagine justice rolling down “like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream” ?  

• “Lifting every voice” is not as easy as it sounds – how do you think about the inherent tensions in making space for every voice?  

• Any questions, ideas or themes that arrive for you with this quote  

Submission Details & Requirements 

• Submissions will be accepted from Monday, October 20 - Sunday, December 7, at 11:59 p.m. ET. The winner(s) will be announced by Friday, December 19. 

• Students must submit original work, but it can be work prepared for a different prompt, class, or event; as part of the application process, submitters will share how the work relates to this theme.  

• The winner will receive a cash prize of $500. Both individuals and groups may submit, but the prize will be $500 total for the submission.  

• The submission can be any medium (photography, spoken word, essay, dance, etc.); submissions are accepted as pdfs, MP4 or MOV, jpeg or png. Winner(s) will present their work at the MLK Celebration on Thursday, January 22, 2026.  

The 2025 winner was Soni Broni, E27 for her written piece, "From Black to Gray: The Journey Forward."

Student voices winner Sonia Broni with Chaplain Elyse Nelson Winger, left and Africana Center director Katrina Moore after MLK Day Celebrations on Jan. 30, 2025. Photo by Jodi Hilton for Tufts Chaplaincy

The 2024 winners were Alpha Massaquoi (far left) for the visual piece Season Change (pictured farthest right) and Tatum Schutt (far right) for the written piece, "Unsettled."

2024 Student Voices awardees (left and right) Alpha Massaquoi and Tatum Schutt with Christian Walkes (center) of the Museum of African American History after the annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration.