FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
1/8/2007
Contact: K.E. Schwab  -- 724-738-2199
 karl.schwab@sru.edu

SRU King Day of Service to see 225 participate in community service projects

     SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. –  Frank Hale, Jr., “Dean of Diversity” and vice provost and professor emeritus at The Ohio State University, and Calvin Mackie, award-winning mentor, motivational speaker and entrepreneur, will deliver addresses when more than 225 Slippery Rock University students return to campus to participate in the fourth annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Day of Service.

     The day again focuses on community service in memory of the slain civil rights figure as part of the Jan. 15 day of service observance. Spring semester classes begin at 8 a.m. Jan. 16.

     Those planning the daylong event have urged the university community to consider the federally set King holiday as “day on” rather than a “day off.” The event is coordinated by Robert Clay, assistant director of the Office of Intercultural Programs, who explains campus individuals and organizations have been urged to volunteer for a variety of service projects, including work at Home to Me Inc., Camp Crestfield, Slippery Rock Parks and Recreation, Slippery Rock Food Cupboard, Slippery Rock Personal Care Center, SRU Child Care Center in Slippery Rock, Orchard Manor, Fellowship Manor and the Grove City YMCA in Grove City, and the Clen Moore Presbyterian Church, St. John United Holy Church, Third Presbyterian  Church and Second Baptist Church, all in New Castle.

     In addition to community service a number of other related events are planned. Members of the SRU community will participate in Butler’s Martin Luther King, Jr., Community Breakfast hosted by the Paul Laurence Dunbar Community Center, the American Association of University Women and the Butler YWCA. The breakfast will feature Rev. Phillip Conyers, Jr., senior pastor at the Oak Hills Christian Church, Butler, at 8:30 a.m. SRU’s Michelle McCollin, assistant professor of special education, will provide musical selections. Breakfast tickets, $5, are available at the YWCA, the Dunbar center and from Sandra Stevenson, assistant director of diversity and employee training at SRU.

     Participating students will gather at 11 a.m. in the University Union for a formal program featuring Mackie and a volunteer’s luncheon before heading to the various service projects.

     Mackie’s address will transcend race, gender, ethnicity, religion and time. After starting college in remedial reading because of weak SAT scores, he earned a bachelor of mechanical engineering from Georgia Tech and a bachelor of science in mathematics from Morehouse College, a master of science degree and a doctorate degree in mechanical engineering from Georgia Tech. Following graduation he joined the Tulane University faculty where he pursues research related to heat transfer, fluid dynamics, energy efficiency and renewable energy. In 2002, he was promoted to associate professor with tenure.

            His research and education efforts have resulted in numerous peer-reviewed publications and external federal, state and private funding. A professional speaker, in 1992 he co-founded Channel ZerO, an educational and motivational consulting company and has presented to numerous civic, educational institutions and Fortune 500 corporations.

     In 2004 – 2005, he was a visiting professor in the department of chemical engineering at the University of Michigan. A member of the Phi Beta Kappa, Pi Tau Sigma and Tau Beta Pi National Honor Societies, his passion for scholarship is well established.

                Mackie has won numerous awards including the 2003 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring in a White House Ceremony, the 2003 National Title One Distinguished Graduate for Louisiana, 2002 Black Engineer of the Year Award for College Level Educator, 2002 New Orleans Data News Weekly Trailblazer Award, and the Pi Tau Sigma/ASME Excellence in Teaching Award in Mechanical Engineering for 2000 and 2002. In 1999, he received a patent on a device to retrofit luggage stowbins on 737 and 757 Boeing commercial airliners and is author of “A View from the Roof: Lessons for Life and Business.”

      The program will include the King Performance Competition in which students offer five-minute segments supporting their thoughts on the life and legacy of Dr. King using any form of artistic expression, including speech, music, and dance, among others. The competition winner will present their work at an evening program planned for Miller Auditorium.

     A 6 p.m. candle-light vigil will offer a march from the University Union to Miller Auditorium prior to the 7 p.m. evening program at which Hale, in which SRU’s annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Civil Leadership Awards will be presented. Award recipients may be SRU faculty, staff, administrators and students who demonstrate support of civil rights in words and actions, advocate for social justice in words and actions, demonstrate leadership in moving and motivating others toward an understanding of, and quest for, civil rights and social justice for all people, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age or disability. 

     Hale served at OSU from 1971 to 1988. A native of Kansas City, Mo., he graduated from the University of Nebraska with a bachelor of arts and master of arts in communication, political science and English. He earned his doctorate in communication and political science from The Ohio State University, then served as a British council postdoctoral fellow in English literature at the University of London. He holds numerous honorary degrees.

      Serving in the field of higher education for 54 years, Hale has held full professorships at Central State University, Oakwood College and OSU. He served as professor of communication at Potomac University and as chairman and professor of English at Central State. He was president of Oakwood College and had served as associate dean and chairman of the fellowship committee of the OSU Graduate School before being appointed vice provost for minority affairs in 1978. He also served as special assistant to the president of Kenyon College following retirement from OSU and has served as a visiting professor of communication at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He was appointed distinguished university representative and consultant in the OSU President’s Office.

     He has served on many regional and national boards, including the United Negro College Fund, Operation PUSH, PUSH EXCEL, Loma Linda University, Oakwood College, Union College, Columbia Union College, Seventh-day Adventist Commission on Higher Education, the Ohio Martin Luther King, Commission, Harding Hospital, and the advisory board of the College of William and Mary. His lectureships include presentations before the National Academy of Science, the Council of Graduate Schools, the National Association of Land Grant Colleges, the National Association of Equal Opportunity in Higher Education, the U.S. Department of Education, the National Association of Black Administrators in Higher Education and the American College of Health Association.

     Hale has authored and edited 11 books and published more than 50 articles in professional journals. His most recent publication is his biography “Angels Watching Over Me” and his bestseller was “What Makes Diversity Work in Higher Education.”

      As a scholar, researcher, author, teacher, administrator, consultant, and civil rights crusader, Hale was the engineer of many OSU initiatives. He founded the Graduate and Professional School’s Visitation Days Program and its undergraduate counterpart, the Minority Scholars Program. He also founded The Ohio State Mu Xi Chapter of the Alpha Kappa Mu honorary society. Through his efforts, nearly $15 million in graduate fellowship awards were granted to approximately 1,200 minority students. The OSU board of trustees named the Frank W. Hale, Jr., Black Cultural Center and designated the building in which it is housed as Hale Hall. He delivered the 1988 summer commencement address to 1,700 graduates. 

Slippery Rock University is Pennsylvania’s premier public residential university. Slippery Rock University provides students with a comprehensive learning experience that intentionally combines academic instruction with enhanced educational and learning opportunities that make a positive difference in their lives.

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