Former Morehouse President, Robert Franklin, Reflects On MLK’s Moral Leadership

On the day of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s funeral, Morehouse College president Dr. Benjamin Mays eulogized his former student. And a young man named Robert Franklin was watching.

Dr. Mays also inspired Dr. Franklin to attend his alma mater, the University of Chicago, for doctoral work, and he later followed in Dr. Mays’ footsteps by becoming the president of Morehouse College from 2007-2012.

Dr. Franklin discusses Dr. Mays and Dr. King as moral leaders who served the common good.

“I like to define moral leaders as women and men who live with integrity, courage and imagination as they serve the common good and as they inspire and invite others to join them. That’s what makes them moral leaders.”

“I attribute to Dr. Mays and what he tried to do for young students like Martin Luther King who came to Morehouse at the tender age of 15,” he said. “We were just privileged to serve some of America’s best and brightest young men and that legacy continues.”