Following the completion of his studies at Morehouse College in 1948, Martin Luther King, Jr. attended Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania. King was drawn to the school’s unorthodox reputation and liberal theological leanings, and it was at Crozer where King was first exposed to pacifism and where he developed his ideas about nonviolence as a method of social reform.
King got off to a slow start at Crozer, but soon rose to the top of his class, graduating with honors as class valedictorian. Initially, he felt uncomfortable at the mostly white institution. He said of his earlier experiences at the seminary, "If I were a minute late to class, I was almost morbidly conscious of it and sure that everyone noticed it. Rather than be thought of as always laughing, I'm afraid I was grimly serious for a time. I had a tendency to overdress, to keep my room spotless, my shoes perfectly shined and my clothes immaculately pressed." Through the years, he became more comfortable, developing friendships and relationships with his classmates and professors.
While at Crozer, King was first introduced to pacifism in a lecture by A. J. Muste of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, a religious pacifist organization. While not immediately convinced of the practicality of Muste's position, King later attended a sermon by Mordecai Johnson, president of Howard University, and learned of the life and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. It was through Gandhi's emphasis on love and nonviolence that King discovered the method of social reform that he had been seeking. King was also greatly inspired by Professor George Washington Davis, who expanded his knowledge of social gospel philosophies and introduced him to the writings of Reinhold Niebuhr.
King graduated from Crozer in 1951. In 1970, the seminary merged with Colgate Rochester Divinity School in Rochester, New York.