Advancing Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s ongoing commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, Martin Luther King Jr. Day will be recognized as an official institutional holiday beginning Monday, Jan. 16, 2023.
PTO allocations throughout VUMC will be increased by one day to support this additional holiday and will be reflected in eligible employees’ PTO banks later in FY‘23 after the implementation of the MyWorkday system.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established as a federal holiday in 1986 to honor the life and legacy of Dr. King and to encourage Americans to improve their communities. The holiday is observed each year on the third Monday in January in recognition of Dr. King’s birthday on Jan. 15, 1929.
“Dr. King spent his life tirelessly fighting for justice and equality. Through him we learned that in order to be sustainable, diversity, equity and inclusion must become embedded in our culture and become the expectation for how to live and work together,” said Jeff Balser, MD, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer of VUMC and Dean of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. “Our new Racial Equity Plan articulates a framework for doing just that — fostering workplace values that respect the beliefs and contributions of everyone equally. I hope that honoring Dr. King in this way serves as an annual reminder of our commitment to those values at VUMC.”
With this change, the holiday is now included among other official VUMC administrative holidays so that offices will be closed, and employees can celebrate Dr. King through participation in community events or acts of service.
“Dr. King’s unwavering commitment to justice and his legacy as an iconic leader of the American Civil Rights Movement helped shift us toward a more equitable nation,” said Consuelo Wilkins, MD, MSCI, VUMC’s Chief Equity Officer and Senior Associate Dean, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. “Making Martin Luther King Jr. Day an official VUMC holiday honors the sacrifices and progress made by civil rights leaders and will be a time for us to reflect and act in ways to move toward Dr. King’s vision of equity for all.”
Other administrative holidays observed by VUMC include New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
