Reaching toward the dream

Monday's Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration is intended to be more than a day off for students, faculty and Bloomington residents.\nA variety of activities will take place Monday, including an interfaith prayer service, a concert for freedom, a unity summit and march and a celebration lecture by Mary Frances Berry, chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. IU students will also participate in the community-wide "A Day On! Not a Day Off," a volunteering blitz matching student organizations with community service agencies.\nGloria Gibson, associate vice chancellor for the Office of Multicultural Affairs, said the events were designed to involve IU students, faculty and other Bloomington residents in celebrating the life of King. \n"It's one thing to know of the legacy," Gibson said. "It's another to participate in that legacy."\nBeginning 9 a.m. Monday, a prayer service open to all faiths celebrating diversity will take place at the Whittenberger Auditorium in the Indiana Memorial Union. The service will be led by representatives from a variety of religious groups.\nA "read out" at the Monroe County Public Library will also begin 9 a.m., where volunteers will read diversity-related books with children. An invitation-only brunch will follow at 10 a.m. Winners of the Martin Luther King Essay Competition will be presented at the brunch, and the Project Respect 2002 winning poster design will be unveiled. \nAt noon, students and community members will discuss issues centering on hate crimes and race relations at a unity summit \nsponsored by the Black Student Union and Residential Programs and Services CommUnity Educators. The discussion will take place in the Frangipani Room of the IMU.\nA unity march will begin at 2 p.m. following the Unity Summit, leading from the Frangipani Room to the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center. The Collins Living-Learning Center will also host a "Concert for Freedom" 3 p.m. Monday.\nMore than 300 students from about 35 campus organizations are volunteering Monday as part of "A Day On! Not a Day Off," Darrell Ann Stone, Volunteer Student Bureau advisor and associate director of student activities said. Volunteerism and participation in the activities presents a unique opportunity to become involved in the Bloomington community, Stone said.\n"We decided to help students find meaning in the day," she said. "There are few things that bring the two communities together in such a symbolic way, and (this) is truly one of them."\nStudents from campus religious and interest groups, fraternities and sororities have been matched with area service agencies including Middle Way House, the Monroe County Public Library, Hoosier Hills Food Bank, My Sister's Closet, Habitat for Humanity and the Bloomington Developmental Learning Center, among others, Stone said. \nActivities at the Bloomington Boys and Girls Club will focus on the messages of King and involve the participants with volunteers, many of whom are IU students, Sarah Ward, unit director for the Boys and Girls Club said .\nWard said student volunteers and Boys and Girls Club members will read books and watch videos focusing on civil rights and diversity, create life-size drawings of themselves, compose dialogues emulating King's "I Have a Dream" speech and create posters for a march to be held in the club gymnasium.\nStudents from Civic Leadership Development, a community service organization run through the Kelley School of Business, will volunteer at the Developmental Learning Center. \nSenior Stephanie Klump, a CLD member, said about 15 members will spend the day with young children at the center.\n"Here's a day when nobody has class, so they can participate," she said. "It's a big community-wide event, and we like that."\nVolunteerism is especially important on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Stone said.\n"I think it's essential that we all pause upon something as important as the work of Dr. King," she said. "I think it's really important to come together and create unity and challenge ourselves to work together in ways we've never done before."\nThe events are designed to celebrate and involve all people, Gibson said. \n"It's important that people recognize that they're for all students," Gibson said. "They're not just for African-American students. It provides a learning experience for everyone involved."\nDean of Students Richard McKaig said he hopes students will participate in and enjoy Monday's events.\n"Hopefully we'll see good attendance," he said. "(King's) words have to somehow change us and change the world. I hope all students understand the whole meaning of the holiday."\nMcKaig said the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebrations are especially important at the University.\n"The campus makes a lot of commentary throughout the year on diversity," McKaig said. "This provides a once-a-year focal point to look again at issues of diversity"