Sources: Deborah Muhwezi, deborah1@k-state.edu;
and Sheila Ellis, sheilaellis.09@gmail.com

Monday, April 13, 2009

MEMBERS OF K-STATE'S DIVERSE MASS COMMUNICATORS PLAN WEEK OF SPECIAL EVENTS

MANHATTAN -- Television and radio personality Free will be the guest speaker for the first Diverse Mass Communicators Week, April 12-19, at Kansas State University.

Diverse Mass Communicators is a K-State student group for minority journalists. The group helps promote cultural diversity at K-State and through all media outlets, recruits minority students and provides professional opportunities for growth.

Free, a recording artist and former co-host of the BET's show "106 & Park," will speak at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 14, in the K-State Student Union's Forum Hall. Her lecture is free and open to the public. Free also founded the Free4Life Foundation, which is dedicated to empowering young people in disadvantaged neighborhoods through programs that encourage literacy, financial education and creative arts.

A panel discussion on the current state of the journalism industry and how to get a job will be 5-7 p.m. Thursday, April 16, in 207 Union. Lewis Diuguid, a columnist for the Kansas City Star, will moderate the panel, which will include other media professionals and recent graduates of K-State's A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications. A question-and-answer session will follow the discussion, and K-State's career and employment services will provide resume critiques. The event is free and the public is welcome.

The week will wrap up Sunday, April 19, with the "Plethora of Flavors" international dinner from 5-7 p.m. at K-State's International Student Center. The dinner, a fundraiser for the Diverse Mass Communicators, will feature Latino, Asian and soul food. Tickets are $5 in advance and $7 at the door. Members of Diverse Mass Communicators will be selling tickets from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 15-17 in the Union.