College Students Give up a Day Off for "A Day to Act"

Hundreds will spend Martin Luther King Jr. Day doing service

POSTPONED:   Lyle Quasim speaks on “The Fire Within" Monday, Jan. 16, 7:30 p.m.

Due to inclement weather the 5 p.m. event in the Rotunda and 7 p.m. event in Kilworth Memorial Chapel have been postponed. We will work to reschedule these events for a future date.

TACOMA, Wash. – Who gives up a day off to clean a gulch littered with junk or to scrub the kitchen floor in a home for people living with AIDS? Last year about 300 students, faculty, and staff from University of Puget Sound did just that, turning their Martin Luther King Jr. holiday into a day of doing chores and sharing time with others in need.

On Monday, Jan. 16, 2012, organizers expect a similar number of Puget Sound campus volunteers to turn out around Tacoma ready to work. They will be recognizing Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the manner that then president-elect Barack Obama called for in 2009. This, he said, is “not a day just to pause and reflect—it’s a day to act.”

Lyle Quasim ’70, Hon.’05 will also be on duty for the community. The retiring president of Bates Technical College and longtime social activist and political leader will present the keynote speech “The Fire Within” in Kilworth Memorial Chapel, 7–8:30 p.m. Puget Sound President Ronald R. Thomas also will share some thoughts, and musicians Navele Davis & Friends will perform gospel music.

The Puget Sound events on Monday, Jan. 16 will include:

A Day of Service
Locations around Tacoma
1–4:30 p.m.

Volunteers Reception
Rasmussen Rotunda, Wheelock Student Center
5–6:30 p.m.

Evening Celebration
Kilworth Memorial Chapel
7–8:30 p.m.

Volunteers for community work can contact Roman Christiaens or Marta Palmquist Cady at mlk@pugetsound.edu. The volunteers will meet at their community work location or carpool there. Sites will include NW Furniture Bank, La Grande Garden, Habitat for Humanity, Puget Creek Restoration Society, Metro Parks Tacoma, Pierce County Stream Team, Nativity House, The Salvation Army, Citizens for a Healthy Bay, AIDS Housing Association of Tacoma, New Connections’ Irma Gary House, New Phoebe House Association, and Urban Grace Church.

The 5 p.m. reception in Rasmussen Rotunda in Wheelock Student Center will bring the volunteers together for discussion and refreshments. They will hear student reflections about their day of service and meet the recipients of the Keep Living the Dream Awards, which recognizes members of the community who best embody the spirit of King’s life and legacy.

Evening keynote speaker Lyle Quasim has served in a wide range of public roles, including as chief of staff to Pierce County Executive John Ladenburg, as executive and then secretary of the Washington state Department of Social and Health Services, and in roles with the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation and American Leadership Forum.

Quasim is a member of the University of Puget Sound Board of Trustees, co-chair of the Pierce County Black Collective, and president of the board of the Tacoma Safe Streets Campaign. He served as a medic for the U.S. Air Force in Vietnam and as a counselor at Western State Hospital. A 1970 graduate of Puget Sound, Quasim was presented with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree by the university in 2005.

For more information about volunteering contact: Roman Christiaens or Marta Palmquist Cady at mlk@pugetsound.edu.

For directions and a map of the campus: www.pugetsound.edu/directions.xml

Photos of Lyle Quasim can be downloaded from: www.pugetsound.edu/pressphotos

Photos on page: Top right: Students work at La Grande Garden, Above left: Lyle Quasim; Above right: Students finish a day of work for Citizens for a Healthy Bay

Tweet this: Lyle Quasim on The Fire Within for MLK Day, 7pm, Jan. 16 @univpugetsound http://bit.ly/tFIbhp

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