Spotlight on MLK Studies: Karen Traynum-Davis

Did you know that Union Institute & University offers one of the few Ph.D. specializations in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Studies in the country? In recognition of this distinct honor, and in remembrance of Dr. King, we are featuring some of the people who are part of the MLK Studies program.

Karen Traynum-Davis, Ph.D. Student with a major in Ethical & Creative Leadership

How do you apply Dr. King’s philosophies in your everyday life?

As a student in the Martin Luther King Studies Specialization at Union Institute and University and as an educator of our children, the legacy of Dr. King is not only inspiring, but quite simply provides a road map for my daily life. His belief that everyone in the community is valuable and should be embraced in our society is as closely related my commitment to teach our disadvantaged youth as it is relevant to the recent acts of violence we have witnessed in our communities. Too often, some of our youth feel unwelcomed, devalued and unloved. Society and their circumstances have made them feel very limited in what they can achieve in life. I have always been an optimist. I believe, like Dr. King did, that we cannot allow ourselves to feel limited in any aspect of life because we will then begin to feel limited in our ability to help transform ourselves and society. Dr. King was committed to community, youth, education, and social justice. On a daily basis I recommit myself to Dr. King’s legacy through educating our youth with his legacy of love, community, social justice, and limitlessness in mind.

Karen Traynum-Davis has spent her professional career in education and instruction. She is the Home Instruction Program Director at Dohn Community School, where she manages subject instruction; preparation for state testing and graduation; and administration of tests and subject work based on student Individual Education Program goals. She has served as an academic tutor in the Cincinnati Public Schools and Business Department Chairperson at Lincoln College of Technology in Cincinnati. Karen earned her MBA from the University of Phoenix and a Bachelor of Science in Human Resource Management from the University of Cincinnati.

Learn more about Union’s MLK studies specialization here.