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News 'Hurst students help stop hate
By Tim Hucko Staff writer This year over 30 students took their stand against the hatred that plagues college campuses nationwide. Wednesday, students and faculty gathered for the unveiling of the winners of the third annual ‘Stop the Hate Poster Contest’. The poster contest is intended to creatively convey a message of tolerance and community through an original artistic medium. Cash prizes of $500, $200 and $100, respectively, are awarded to the top three winners of the contest. In front of a large crowd in the Great Room of the Herrmann Student Union, Erie Mayor Joseph Sinnott extended his gratitude toward students who were willing to take a stand and make a difference. "Work like this gets the message out to educate young people," Sinnott said. Mercyhurst College President Dr. Thomas Gamble spoke words of praise to students who were involved in the campus-wide campaign against hostility. The eager crowd waited for the announcement of the Almost every seat was filled with contestants, faculty and students who rallied behind a valiant cause. Even students who had not entered work in this year’s contest gathered to hear the top three announced. "I believe the students here at Mercyhurst are all very supportive and respectful of each other, but that does not always mean there will not be anger and aggression in some circumstances," senior Allison McCaslin said. "These posters are a great way to spread the word and at least reduce hostilities, so I am just excited to see which ones win." Stop the Hate Contest organizer and Assistant Director of Residence Life and Student Conduct Dara Zirkle said this was another incredible year for the Stop the Hate Campaign. "This has been the best year yet, because of so many submissions," she said. "I hope everybody had the opportunity to walk around and look at all the fantastic work." First-place winners Brittany Jeffords and Megan Rasmussen, sophomores, said they were very pleased with the outcome and check for $500. "We had originally started working on this poster as a competition with some friends just for the fun of it, but once we really sat down to think, we realized the true atrocities and horrific acts that people must face every day," Jeffords said. "We just kept things simple because the message needs to be clear-cut and strong." Rasmussen said she agreed. She said she was equally pleased with taking first, not because of the money, but the change they are helping to make. Second place winners, junior Mixa Jovanovic and senior Kelly Cofrancisco, said they were pleased with their joint work, which aimed to pull at the deepest emotions of the heart. "I had approached Kelly for this project because of her superior graphic design skills and artistic touch for things," Jovanovic said. "I really support this program and the message..." Equally pleased with their accomplishment, Cofrancisco said she felt her skill could best be utilized for good and promoting a better environment. "Last year’s poster was brighter and more colorful, but we realized that hate isn’t always pretty and is sometimes masked with darkness and fear, which inspired our design for this years work," she said. Jovanovic said they moved from "idealistic to realistic." Senior Mitchell Phillis took third place and a $100 prize for his vivid and powerful submission. "I was aiming for first place this year, because last year I had taken second and wanted to see if I could outdo myself," Phillis said. "Last year’s submission was more spontaneous and jumbled together than this one. Whenever I had a good idea I wrote it down and worked with it until I tweaked everything just the way I wanted it." Posters are currently on display in the Student Union.
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