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URI students and faculty recognized for peace work at MLK Unity Luncheon

University community members honored for ensuring human rights, peace efforts at the institution

Alumna Persjha Conry delivers the keynote address during URI’s annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Unity Luncheon.

KINGSTON, R.I. – Feb. 5, 2026 – University of Rhode Island students and faculty were honored for their significant peace work contribution to the University community on Jan. 29 at the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Unity Luncheon. The event, held at the Memorial Union and presented by URI’s Multicultural Student Services Center in cooperation with the URI Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies and the URI Chaplains Association, recognized both students and staff for promoting peace and nonviolence.

URI graduate student Leetal Young, left, and engineering professor Christopher Hunter, right, received the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Peacemaker Awards during this year’s annual Unity Luncheon. They are pictured with Amy Olson, chair of the URI Chaplains Association. (URI Photos/Catherine Scott)

Keynote speaker Persjha Conry ’05, a URI alum and now clinical director and co-owner of Elevating Minds ABA, discussed personal choices presenting the concept of the “I” in King. During her address, she prompted audience members to think about what each of them can do individually. Conry also discussed the realization that Dr. King was a revolutionary and what that means in this day and age.

“King as a revolutionary doesn’t mean he was perfect,” said Conry. “That’s why it’s important you hear that his imperfections made him obtainable, they made him human.”

Sharing personal experiences and expressing that she is an educator both in and out of the classroom, Conry discussed the importance of representation and allowed attendees to share what representation meant to them.

Jean Nsabumuremyi, right, and Sean Edmund Rogers were presented with the annual Human Rights Awards. (Accepting the award on Rogers’ behalf was Heidi Bucci, left, the college’s coordinator of professional and executive business education.) Pictured middle is Thupten Tendhar with the Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies.

Human Rights Awards

Sean Edmund Rogers, dean of the URI College of Business and the Alfred J. Verrecchia-Hasbro Inc. Leadership Chair in Business, and Jean Nsabumuremyi, director of the URI Multicultural Student Services Center, each received this year’s Human Rights Award. The award is presented to URI community members whose work is impactful locally or globally.

Rogers’ work included traveling internationally to better understand the challenges international students face when seeking to study at an American university. He has also served as URI’s chief diversity officer and vice president of community, equity and diversity. Through his dedication to ensure human rights are equally evident, Rogers continues to uphold and promote peace and human rights through justice, advocacy and empowerment.

Born in Rwanda and resettled in Rhode Island in 2006, Nsabumuremyi has worked to expand access and opportunity for students and foster inclusive environments grounded in dignity, respect and cross-cultural understanding both within the classroom at URI and beyond.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Peacemaker Award honorees

Christopher Hunter, a civil and environmental engineering professor, and Leetal Young, a URI graduate mental health and behavioral health counseling student, each were presented with this year’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Peacemaker Award.

The URI Chaplains Association annually presents the Dr. King Peacemaker Award to a student, staff member, faculty member or a student group who embodies King’s values, dreams, and aspirations in their work at the University.

Young, a graduate research assistant for URI’s inaugural Collegiate Recovery Program, is a past president of URI Hillel and created the Interfaith Friendsgiving, a campus and community wide gathering focused on bringing people together of different faiths, cultures, generation and identities around shared conversation, service and celebration. Young leads with both lived experience and academics and is devoted to creating spaces where people both feel seen and heard.

Described as a calming voice during moments of disagreement, Hunter has been an advocate for funding allowing URI students to attend professional conferences that support academic growth and career development. His approach every day promotes justice for faculty and staff who feel marginalized within the institution.

Prior to closing out the afternoon, Markeisha Miner, the University’s vice president and chief diversity officer, called on the attendees to continue to respect and contribute to what makes this community amazing.

“That is our unwavering commitment to providing access for people from all backgrounds and beliefs to work and study at the state’s only public university, an opportunity that transforms lives and transforms entire communities,” Miner said.

This story was written by Kiera Wrage, a senior majoring in public relations at the University of Rhode Island. Kiera is interning in URI’s Department of Communications and Marketing.