Students design 16 posters for MLK symposium

Though the 11th annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Symposium is two months away, students can pick the event's central image today.

Sixteen posters designed by students in a senior graphic design class stand on display in the Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives for the perusal of members of the University community.

MLK Symposium Coordinator Tara Young, who also is the program coordiantor for OAMI, said the students were given very few guidelines to allow for creative, individual interpretations.

Although many of the posters emphasize varying interpretations of the symposium's theme "Why We Can't Wait," Young said she was impressed with the inventiveness of each poster and will select the poster that receives the most votes.

"I'm going to go with the will of the people and the will of who comes in to vote," Young said.

LSA sophomore Jane Kim said she was impressed by the talent shown through the posters.

"I think there were some powerful ones," Kim said. "I was like, 'Wow, I can't believe our Art students did them.'"

Young also said several of the posters are being noted for their "direct" and powerful statements. Some people find these illustrations inappropriate, but others applaud the strong, attention-getting message, she said.

"Dr. King's work is definitely (not) about being safe, and some of these posters really drive it home in a direct way," she said.

Kim, who is a student administrative assistant for OAMI, said that although some of the posters presented a more direct statement, they were not necessarily inappropriate.

"I think it shows the weight of the situation, and it goes along with exactly 'Why We Can't Wait,'" Kim said.

Nursing senior Pam Bowser said that although more direct posters are eye-catching and affect many people, they might stray from the focus of the symposium, partly because the message may be misinterpreted.

"I think it is direct and to the point, but as far as using it as advertising, I don't necessarily think it is appropriate," Bowser said.

Art and Design senior Dion Madrilejo, who was one of the students in the Graphic Design 4 class who proposed a poster design, said he and his fellow classmates had to research King and his work to develop individual interpretations for their poster concepts.

"I think he stood for unity," Madrilejo said. "That's why it's so prominent in my poster."

Madrilejo's poster shows two hands, one red and one green, joined together on a black background. These three colors are commonly associated with black pride.

Young said January's MLK symposium may take on a different tone or meaning because of several events that have occured at the University in recent months. In addition to the lawsuit filed against the University last month challenging admission policies, Young noted swastikas drawn on the doors of several students' residence hall rooms and the domestic violence situation that resulted in the death of LSA senior Tamara Williams.

"I think this campus is a lot more anxious," she said. "This is not a comfortable year, and it's a little more different this year because of those things."

Members of the University community are encouraged to rank their top five poster selections and evaluate each poster on display in the OAMI office, which is located on the third floor of the Student Activities Building. The deadline for voting on the posters is tomorrow at 5 p.m.

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