Voting for the 2010 Martin Luther King Jr. Video Competition is under way. The online poll will be open until Friday, Jan. 15.

The contest, which began in November, asked students at Eastern Michigan University to submit original videos in which they describe how Dr. King has impacted their lives and what this year’s theme, “The Dream: [Insert Self Here],” means to them.

A winner will be selected from the seven finalists after students, staff and faculty vote for their favorite. The winner will be announced and their video premiered during the MLK Luncheon on January 18 at the Student Center. The winner will also receive a $500 scholarship.

The seven finalists are Kadesha Baker, Chad Dalton, Rebecca Hodge, LaToya Summers, Sadeepa Munasinghe, Nicole Johnson, and James Zolynsky.

“The contest was brand new for this year’s MLK celebration,” said Keith Jason, Coordinator of Student Services for the College of Technology, who helped put on the contest.

“It was something that was created to give students an opportunity to creatively express their thoughts on King and to make use of some of the, I don’t want to say new technology because YouTube isn’t exactly new, but it’s a new approach to expression for the MLK celebration and it gives students the opportunity to express their opinions on it.”

For Jason, as a coordinator in the College of Technology, the video contest also gives students an opportunity to develop their skills making videos, which could prove
invaluable in both their education and future careers.

“It was kind of interesting to see student’s responses saying, ‘This is the first time I’ve ever made a video, so let me know what you think.’ And for students who said that it was their first time, it was pretty impressive to see what they were able to come up, so hopefully it’s a skill-set they’ll be able take with them throughout the rest of their life.”

To vote, visit http://www.emich.edu/mlk/video_vote.html before Jan. 15.