ASU group offers MLK Jr. scholarship to student leader

For the first time, the ASU Martin Luther King, Jr. Committee is offering a $1,000 scholarship to an MLK Student Servant-Leadership awardee. The award will be presented at the MLK Celebration Breakfast on Jan. 20, 2011.

The committee requests help in identifying an ASU student with an outstanding record of leading others through volunteer service. Nominations can come from anyone in the community. Self-nominations are encouraged. The deadline for nominations is Oct. 11.

Servant-leadership is a practical philosophy supporting people who choose to serve others first, and then lead as a way of expanding service to individuals and institutions. It encourages collaboration, trust, foresight, listening and the ethical use of power. Nominees do not have to hold formal leadership positions.

The student must be enrolled full-time at ASU, exemplify the ideals of servant-leadership and have a track record of commitment through volunteer service. The award is available to undergraduate and graduate students.

Last year’s winner was Dominick Hernandez, who founded several student groups including a sustainability organization and a leadership and success society, created an Artist Mic Night and rallied other students to get involved in green efforts on campus.

Others have included a graduate student leader who was involved in supporting women’s and children’s groups, a Fire Department and Girl Scout volunteer who drew other students into her efforts, and a student senator who shared her love of service with other senators by passing service-related bills and planning service projects.

ASU celebrates the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. with a series of events on all four campuses that include a student rally and a poster-essay contest for schoolchildren. This year will mark the 26th annual observance. The theme for this year’s celebration is “exhange for a better tomorrow.”

For more information and a nomination form, go to www.asu.edu/mlk. Entry forms for the K-12 poster-essay contest also are available on the site.