University Park, Pa. -- As promotional efforts for Penn State's 2004 Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration gear up under the theme of "Call to Conscience," Peter Sucheski, the art student who created the image for the commemoration, reflects his own recent bout with conscience.
Inspired by the theme, Sucheski began crafting a warm-toned close-up picture of a hand holding a lighted candle in the darkness not long after turning down a "dream job" offer from Rolling Stone magazine, for which he had worked on cover elements and page designs during a summer internship. Saying he wanted to learn from his instructors through one more year at Penn State, the senior from Rochester, N.Y., somewhat reluctantly returned to campus and ended up having his striking design picked over nearly 15 others submitted by students.
"I was reading King's 'I Have a Dream' speech when his phrase, 'to transform the negative extremes of a dark past into the positive extremes of a bright future' immediately brought a candlelight vigil to mind," Sucheski said. "The second I got that idea, I knew it was the one to go with, and having it picked makes me proud, because I really wanted to leave my mark in my senior year."
Thomas Poole, associate vice provost for Educational Equity, said that the "Call to Conscience" theme, which was determined by the same campus/community MLK Jr. Commemoration Planning Committee that selected Sucheski's design to represent it, is especially fitting as a focus for the Jan. 15-21 celebration at University Park.
"For one thing, the civil rights movement served as a national call to conscience regarding racial discrimination in particular, and all forms of social injustice in general," noted Poole, who chairs the committee. "Indeed, Dr. King was frequently called 'the trumpet of conscience.' The theme also speaks to the more recent awakening of college students to their responsibility for community service and ethical leadership."
The weeklong commemoration will include a celebration march sponsored by the Office of Undergraduate Education and International Programs on Jan. 16; Day of Service activities on Jan. 19, the federally observed Martin Luther King Jr. Day, that are coordinated by a special committee of the Undergraduate Student Government to encourage people to volunteer with local nonprofit agencies; a keynote speech by Morris Dees, co-founder and chief trial counsel of the Southern Poverty Law Center, to close the Day of Service; and a Jan. 21 volunteer fair sponsored by the AT&T Center for Service Leadership, among other events. (See full schedule and contact information below.)
As in past years, the proposed designs for the commemoration came from students taking the "Art 470: Time and Sequence" class with Lanny Sommese, professor of art. Developed as both a service to the community and as a stimulating part of the students' coursework, the project gives the creator of the selected design the extra opportunity to learn the nuances of relating to a "client," in this case the commemoration committee, as he or she makes changes to the original concept due to the requirements that the design be flexible enough for use on posters, fliers, buttons and T-shirts. These free materials started appearing across campus before the end of the fall semester.
"I think it's very important educationally that our kids realize the power they have to affect people with their work, and that they be involved in service after they graduate," Sommese said. "That emphasis is fairly pervasive throughout the graphic design program -- getting them to understand that they have a certain social responsibility to do good with their work. And as I tell the students when they design things like the MLK Jr. art and the latest THON logo, it's not just a representation of them, but of the whole program."
2004 Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration at University Park
Jan. 15
-- Noon: Bach's Lunch featuring Essence of Joy: A Choral Concert by Essence of Joy and the State College Area High School Choirs, Pasquerilla Spiritual Center
-- 6 p.m.: Forum on Black Affairs MLK Jr. Banquet at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel
Jan. 15-21
-- 11 a.m.-2 p.m.: Film Series: 'Eyes on the Prize" showing daily on the HUB-Robeson Center's main video screen
Jan. 16
-- Noon: Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration March program, sponsored by the Office of Undergraduate Education and International Programs, in the Alumni Hall of the HUB-Robeson Center
Contact: Tineke Cunning, tcunning@psu.edu
Jan. 19
-- All Day: Penn State's Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service
-- 1:30 p.m.: Essence of Joy concert, Paterno Library Atrium
-- 7 p.m.: MLK Jr. Day of Service Celebration with keynote speaker Morris Dees, Eisenhower Auditorium
Contact: USG Day of Service Co-directors
Jessica Moore, jlm464@psu.edu
John Krohn, jdk223@psu.edu
Jan. 21
-- 11 a.m.-3 p.m.: AT&T Center for Service Leadership's Spring Volunteer Fair, Alumni Hall, HUB-Robeson Center
Contact: Beth Bradley, (814) 863-4624
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For more information, visit the Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Web site at http://www.mlk.psu.edu or the Penn State Live stories on the Day of Service at http://live.psu.edu/story/5191 and on the Celebration March at http://live.psu.edu/story/5169