Full Circle Moment: In 1986—the year the United States first observed Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a federal holiday, Lamont Gordon ’87 was a student listening to Milton’s first-ever MLK speaker. On Tuesday, Gordon returned to campus as Milton’s 2025 MLK speaker.
That 1986 assembly left quite an impression on Gordon. The speaker that year was Reverend Charles R. Stith. According to Gordon, “Over the last 30 years or so, Stith has been a pretty major figure in promoting economic and political development in Africa, both as an investor and as U. S. ambassador to Tanzania in the late 1990s. In 1986, when Stith was invited to speak at Milton, he was a minister and community leader in Boston who had recently founded a nonprofit organization called ONE, Organization for a New Equality.”
Gordon was so moved and inspired by this assembly that later that year, he and a classmate reached out to Reverend Stith to ask if they could do their senior project at ONE. Reverend Stith accepted their proposal. For their senior project, they conducted research, analyzed data, participated in focus groups, and contributed to the organization’s work in tangible ways. “It was one of the best experiences that I had at Milton. As I reflect back on that time, I’m reminded of the pivotal role that Milton played in my personal and intellectual development. It was a time when I was beginning to figure out who I was, my place in the world, my values, and what was important to me,” he said.
Lamont Gordon is a proud member of Milton’s Class of 1987 and its Board of Trustees. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Gordon attended seven different schools between first and eighth grade, due to his family’s economic challenges. With the support of a local community-based program, Gordon received a full scholarship to Milton. “Coming to Milton literally saved me. Of course, it gave me a rigorous college-prep education, but because I was a boarder and lived on campus, Milton provided me with the safety and security that I did not have at home.”
After Milton, he went on to graduate from Brown University and the Harvard Graduate School of Education. As a first-generation college graduate and firm believer in the power of education, Gordon has dedicated his career to creating pathways to college for students from underrepresented communities. Currently, he is the Executive Director of College Visions, an organization empowering low-income and first-generation college students in Rhode Island to reap the benefits of higher education.
Gordon shared that, while at Milton, he first began to grapple with a question that he continues to think about today: “When one is fortunate to have privilege, what does one do with that privilege?”—A relevant question as we honor the leadership and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “Dr. King was born to a prominent middle-class family in Atlanta, Georgia. His father was a well-known Baptist minister and leader in the community. Dr. King had the opportunity to pursue his education, enrolling at the prestigious Morehouse College at age 16, and eventually earning a Ph.D. at Boston University. He would go on to become a pastor, following in the footsteps of his father, and ultimately, King would use his privilege, his standing in the community, his platform, his education, and his gift as a powerful speaker, to lead one of the most important social movements in the history of our country,” said Gordon.
Gordon then urged the Milton community to reflect on their privilege and the responsibility that comes with it. He said, “Milton is a place where tomorrow’s leaders are nurtured. It is a place of significant resources, intellectual, financial, and cultural. It is a place that offers students a world-class education. Each of us who has the privilege of a Milton education, I believe, has a responsibility to try to make the world better in some way.”
Through his work at College Visions, Gordon makes a difference in the lives of college students. “While our immediate goal is helping young people earn a college degree, our longer-term vision is that our students will graduate from college, build meaningful careers, and become the next generation of leaders who reflect the diversity of our country. So this is the work that I do, and it’s my way of trying to make a difference,” he said.
Gordon challenged students to think about how they, too, can make a difference in the world: “That’s my story. There are and will be hundreds of different stories in this room. You all will go on to do special and amazing things in your lives and careers. Regardless of what you do, I want you to think about what ways you can help make the world a bit better.”
To learn more about Lamont Gordon and his work at College Visions, click here.