The annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship Breakfast in Montgomery County has long been an event that brings out political leaders and social justice advocates from across the region—at least it’s been that way for nearly 50 years. But this year, a dispute involving a hotel workers union and management at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center prompted organizers to cancel the hallmark MLK weekend event.
The dispute placed the Silver Spring-based Iota Upsilon Lambda chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. in an unexpected position after decades of hosting the breakfast.
When David Luckett, chair of the 49th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Breakfast, learned of the labor dispute, he and his fraternity brothers faced a decision he said would define the chapter’s values.
“We realized that if we continued with the event, we would have to cross a picket line,” Luckett said.
The cancellation was announced late on a Sunday, just eight days before the January 192026 event. Organizers did not consider relocating the breakfast.
“We just couldn’t see moving it in such a short period of time,” Luckett said. “We would have had to find a venue that could accommodate between 450 and 600 people.”
The venue photographed above would have been the venue for the 49th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Breakfast, but it was cancelled by members of the Silver Spring-based Iota Upsilon Lambda chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. in a show of solidarity with a hotel worker’s union.
The UNITE HERE Local 25 union was seeking to meet with hotel staff about unionization, according to Luckett, and he met with the union twice to learn more. It was in those meetings that Luckett was told that Marriott’s management opposed the meeting between its hotel workers and union organizers.
“Marriott has taken their position. The union has taken theirs, and that’s how we’ve found ourselves kind of in the middle of this dispute,” said Luckett.
Luckett said the fraternity did not speak directly with Marriott management about the labor issue and contacted hotel event managers only to cancel the breakfast after learning of the dispute through the union.
MCM News reached out to Marriott International and UNITE HERE Local 25 for comment but did not receive a response by the time of this posting.
A Legacy Steeped in Worker Protections
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha. The civil rights icon joined the Sigma Chapter in 1952 while studying divinity at Boston University.
Less than a year before he was assassinated in April 1968, King announced plans for a Poor People’s Campaign. It was supposed to be another grand march on Washington in follow up to 1963’s to demand better jobs, unemployment insurance, a fair minimum wage, and educational opportunities for the working poor and their children.
Program for an Evening with Martin Luther King, Jr. at Union Methodist Church from the Collection of Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture.
Luckett said the decision to cancel the scholarship breakfast honors King’s legacy of social justice.
“I mean, our brother, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we honor him, and we’ve been honoring him for 49 years,” said Luckett.
The Silver Spring Alpha Phi Alpa chapter now struggles to recover lost revenue from venue deposit they can’t get back, plus lost ticket sale revenue and requests for refunds. What’s more, the organizing committee had secured U.S. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks as a keynote speaker. They had to also call her office to deliver the news.
“We don’t want to put anyone in jeopardy and expose them to things that, you know, we have no control over,” Luckett said.
However, Luckett believes protecting scholarship recipients, event participants and ticket holders from a potential entanglement in a labor dispute aligns with King’s principles and their fraternity’s core values.
So, instead of dwelling on setbacks, Luckett said that time is better spent working to galvanize the community around a greater purpose: King’s legacy.
“It’s going to take nonprofit organizations, fraternities and sororities to make the difference, to fill the gap. We believe that each time any of us decides to make a decision to support our fellow man in this environment that we’re in right now, we’ve got to jump to the challenge,” said Luckett.
Community members who purchased tickets to the 49th annual scholarship breakfast have the option to donate their ticket fee to the fraternity’s scholarship fund, or request a refund by emailing the event organizers.
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