When Dr. Tanya Saunders and Dr. Roger Richardson established the Martin Luther King Scholar Program back in 2002, they envisioned a world in which students of color could attend and graduate from college learning not just the contents of their courseload, but also the importance of civic action. Now, over 20 years and a shift towards the inclusivity of all students later, another cohort of the program’s bright young minds are heading out into the world.
The Class of 2025 are a diverse bunch who exemplify the program’s enduring mission in their own unique ways. They come from different walks of life, different cultures, different areas of the courtry, yet are all united within this program under the goals of social justice and community outreach. Business Administration major Anya Watkins ‘25 credited the program with helping her find a sense of community on campus.
“I'm involved in a lot of things, but I can confidently say the MLK program is where I feel most comfortable,” Watkins said. “I've built such close relationships with them. It's helped me connect with my roots, where I came from, where my family came from, and meet people from all different backgrounds and I'm so grateful for that. I went to a PWI for high school, and [Ithaca Colege] is a PWI now, so having that community of people like me has been so great for my college experience.”
In addition to her role as an MLK Scholar, Watkins also served as one of Ithaca College’s premiere student-athletes. She averaged 10 points and nine rebounds per game as the starting center of the women’s basketball team during the 2024-25 season, earning All-Liberty League Second Team honors in the process. While she always seemed an expressive presence on the court, Watkins said that the program did a lot to help break out of a shell off the hardwood.
“I used to be the person with the shaky voice and the red face during class presentations,” Watkins said. “Now I can go into a classroom of like 50 students and present a workshop on LinkedIn and be completely fine and personable and not thinking about it in my own head.”
Some of the seniors saw even bigger changes resulting from their experiences in the program. Such is the case for Advertising, Public Relations, and Marketing Communications major Destiny Carrion ‘25, for whom the annual first-year Civil Rights Tour to Georgia and Alabama had a profound effect.
“The Civil Rights trip that we took my freshman year, I feel like that was really eye opening,” Carrion said. “It caused me to choose my minor in Latinx studies because I realized that it's really important if you want to help your community: to really understand the history of your community. I learned that through the trip and through the program.”
Carrion’s work organizing events for BIPOC students with residential life, her work with several different BIPOC organizations, and her work as an on-campus peer career advisor over the past several years culminated in her receiving a 2025 Campus Life Award. She said the MLK Scholars program and its members helped guide her throughout her college journey, and she hopes to give back to the Ithaca community further in her post-graduation role as a program coordinator for the Cornell Center for Regional Economic Advancement.
“A lot of my job is to help uplift different programs and startups, and a lot of these startups focus on minoritized groups or good social justice initiatives,” Carrion said. “I'm really excited to take everything I learned about DEI and the importance of building community and integrate it into my work. I want to make sure that I'm speaking up on behalf of my community, as one of the few women of color in the workspace.”
Another way in which this senior class varies is enrollment, as Political Science and Government major Alexis Troncone ‘25 came to Ithaca College during the Fall 2022 semester and has gone from first-year to graduation in just three years. Despite the abbreviated time in college, Troncone was still able to talk with some incredible people.
“We have a LinkedIn alumni page, and I was actually able to connect with two MLK scholar alums who are working in careers that I am interested in,” Troncone said. “One of them is working in the House of Representatives, and through this scholarship program and the alumni network, I was able to set up a phone call with her and learn more about what she does in the House of Representatives, which was super cool. That's an opportunity that I would not have had without the program.”
Even when not speaking with major US politician, Troncone stayed busy in her own right. During the fall 2024 semester, she worked to establish an Association of Latino Professionals For America chapter at Ithaca, which she will serve as the treasurer of until her departure this May. Her only complaint? That she does not get to spend more time with her cohort here.
“I definitely wish I could have at least another semester with my friends,” Troncone said. “I definitely plan on staying a member of the MLK scholar alumni LinkedIn group, because there's a lot of really cool people that are a part of it. It's a very tight knit group, and you build these relationships that you wouldn't be able to other otherwise.”