Purdue News
Purdue News
Clarence Page, a columnist for the Chicago Tribune, will be the Martin Luther King Jr. speaker at Purdue on Wednesday, Jan. 22. The presentation will start at 7 p.m. in Loeb Playhouse with a musical tribute to King that will feature Angela Brown and Charles Webb of the Indiana University School of Music, said Myra DeBow Mason, director of the Diversity Resource Office.
Page, the 1989 Pulitzer Prize winner for commentary, has been a columnist and a member of the Chicago Tribune's editorial board since July 1984. His column is syndicated nationally by Tribune Media Services, and he does a twice-weekly commentary on WGN-TV, Chicago. He has been based in Washington, D.C., since May 1991.
Page's awards include a 1980 Illinois UPI award for community service for an investigative series titled "The Black Tax" and the Edward Scott Beck Award for overseas reporting for a 1976 series on the changing politics of Southern Africa. Page also participated in a 1972 Chicago Tribune Task Force series on vote fraud, which won the Pulitzer Prize. His book, "Showing My Color: Impolite Essays on Race and Identity," was published by HarperCollins in February.
On Monday, Jan. 20, Purdue students, faculty and staff -- who have the day off from work and classes because Martin Luther King Jr. Day is an official university holiday -- will volunteer for Purdue's second day of community service.
"The Affirming the Dream project gives members of the Purdue community an opportunity to work with service organizations," Mason said. "The concept of service was at the heart of Dr. King's philosophy. He believed that a person's worth was not measured by color, culture or class, but rather by his or her commitment to making a better life for all. He often stated that a definition of a successful life must include service to others."
Volunteers should contact the Diversity Resource Office at (765) 494-7307. After registering, volunteers will be mailed a letter with their work assignment, Mason said. Later that day, volunteers can participate in a meal gathering sponsored by Subway Sandwiches in the lobby of Schleman Hall.
Other activities scheduled as part of the King Day celebration are a screening of the Emmy-winning film "We Shall Overcome" at 2 p.m. Wednesday (1/15) in the multipurpose room of the Black Cultural Center and a Celebrating Diversity Workshop, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 21, in Stewart Center. Registration for the workshop is required and can be made by calling the Diversity Resource Office, (765) 494-7307.
CONTACT: Mason, (765) 494-7307
jmw/Kingday/no
