The University of Georgia hosted the 22nd annual Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Breakfast Friday morning. Once again, hundreds of attendees gathered to hear from UGA Alum and keynote speaker Jay Bailey. The 1999 graduate is president and CEO of the H.J. Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs (RICE).
“It’s hard to believe that less than 70 years ago, this was impossible, for you and I to even be having this conversation,” according to Bailey. So, to go from there to where Dr. King himself would not have been admitted to the University of Georgia, to have the President, the Provost, the senior administration celebrating the legacy of a man that couldn’t have even attended had he wanted to, is a powerful testament of possible.”
UGA student Baylen Howell introduced Bailey. He said it’s important to change what you can in order to continue Dr. King’s legacy.
“Going off of what we just heard from Mr. Jay Bailey, I think the most important thing is impacting what you can,” Howell said. “You know, what you can change. You can change what’s three feet in front of you, what’s three feet around you and I feel like that’s where it starts.”
During the event, the 2026 President’s Fulfilling the Dream Awards were awarded. Third-year foundation fellow Jhaycee Barnes was one of the recipients this year.
“Along with my mentorship work in general, I think that community is super important as MLK spoke about and I think kind of fostering that community here in Athens and at UGA is extremely important, said Barnes.”
The event's theme is the Power of the Dream.
