Michelle Singletary, an assistant director of the Office of Residence Life and a member of the Diversity Committee, which is responsible for the celebration’s theme and events, sees this as a great introduction to the week.

‘What I like about our dream week is that it kicks off right after dinner in the (Carrier) Dome,’ she said about the annual dinner held Sunday night. ‘It gets people to think about what Dr. King stood for and the fact that the holiday is not just one day.’

When creating the theme of 2011’s King celebration, the members of the Diversity Committee did not look any further than the simple yet powerful concept of King’s dream, Singletary said. The word ‘D.R.E.A.M.’ will be used as an acronym and will stand for ‘dare to remember everything about the man.’

All events will take place between Monday and Friday. Kendall Exume, a member of the ORL’s Diversity Committee, said the week will provide students with the chance to either identify their own dream or witness the dreams of others. 

Starting Monday, the lawn between the Schine Student Center and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications will become a field of dreams, dotted with planted flags to express the dreams of SU students. The flags will remain on display throughout the week.

On Tuesday, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., the Panasci Lounge in Schine will house art created by children from the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Edward Smith elementary schools in Syracuse. Illustrator London Ladd will also be signing copies of two of his books and will award free copies to the first 25 students present.

This year’s keynote speaker, Dorothy Butler Gilliam, will be featured Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Maxwell Auditorium. Gilliam worked as a columnist for The Washington Post, covering the civil rights movement. She was the only black female journalist covering the movement in the ‘60s. 

The committee was immediately drawn to Gilliam as a speaker because of the effect her story would have on students, Exume said.

‘We wanted to gain some insight into being the only one of her kind during that time,’ he said. ‘We felt that would be a great story to bring to campus.’

The poets of Verbal Blend, SU’s spoken-word program, will perform a diverse array of poetry Thursday at 7 p.m. in Watson Theater. 

Friday is the Campus Day of Service and will last from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. It will give students the chance to design cards for local children’s hospitals and elderly homes. Syracuse children and community members will also be able to interact with students and participate.

‘It is very important to get local kids onto college campuses so they can envision themselves there in the future,’ Exume said.

Community service played a vital role in King’s life and still remains a part of his legacy today, Exume said.

‘Dr. King was very big on giving back to his community, so the committee felt it was only right to have a service event,’ he said.  

The celebration ends Friday evening at 7 p.m. with a performance showcase at the Skybarn, located on South Campus. Singletary said she thinks the showcase is the week’s most popular event because tickets sold out in less than two days last year. She said students especially loved the Greek Stroll Competition, which will be included in the showcase this year.

Exume described the competition as yet another way to remember King, who pledged the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity while in graduate school at Boston University, he said

The committee members feel strongly that the week will be just as much of a success this year as it has been in past years, he said.

Exume said: ‘Every year’s participation has been phenomenal.’

saschmal@syr.edu