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Students, faculty and administrators in the College of Art, Architecture and Planning gathered to mourn the loss of Adrian Dik Che Law ’05 yesterday. Law, a fifth year architecture student, ended his own life on Jan. 14 in Hong Kong. The memorial service and reception were held in the Hartell Gallery in Sibley Hall, where an exhibition of Law’s architecture, art and photographs has been on display since Monday. At the service, Mohsen Mostafavi, dean of the AAP School, as well as Law’s former professors and a friend of Law’s remembered their colleague and friend. As they recalled his passion for architecture and his infectious personality, a slideshow of Law’s personal photographs ran in the background. Prof. Vincent Mulcahy, one of Law’s instructors, reflected on Law’s humor and the sensitivity of his designs. One project that came to mind was a public bath house for the homeless that Law had designed while studying in Rome. Mulcahy praised Law for integrating Rome’s traditions, culture and legacy of humanism into the design. “There are some projects that you never forget,” he said. Students and faculty alike remembered Law’s humor and playfulness as well as his unique designs and artistic convictions. Gazing at the walls plastered in artwork, one of Law’s former professors exclaimed, “I think this [exhibition] is Adrian’s gift to us! It is such a commitment to this enterprise that he loved.” Nathan Wight ’05, a good friend of Law’s, reiterated Law’s commitment to art and design. “His heartfelt enthusiasm for this crazy world we live in is a gift he left us,” he said. Mostafavi agreed that Law’s artistry was brilliantly unique. “It’s so incredible [to observe] the actual potential of this work,” he said. Following comments from faculty members and friends, the roughly 175 memorial attendees quietly hugged and wept. They mingled around the room and admired Law’s work — his models, his paintings, his photographs and various multimedia designs. In addition to architecture students, faculty members and administrators, Kent Hubble ’67, dean of students, and President Jeffrey S. Lehman ’77 paid their respects and attended the event. The exhibition will remain in the Hartell Gallery until the end of the day.Archived article by Ellen MillerSun Senior Writer
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Michael Schwerner ’61 and two of his friends, James Chaney and Andrew Goodman, were murdered outside of Meridian, Mississippi by a white supremacist mob on June 21, 1964. After graduating from Cornell, Schwerner worked as a social worker in New York City, his hometown. He and his wife Rita Levant were members of the Congress on Racial Equality. CORE, founded in 1942 by a group of students in Chicago, is a pacifist organization deeply influenced by the writings of Henry David Thoreau and the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. The organization hoped to mimic Gandhi’s civil disobedience campaign against British rule in India in the civil rights movement. Today CORE directs its attention to the problems of inner-city ghettos. In January 1964 Michael and Rita Schwerner became CORE field-workers in Meridian, Mississippi. They were working to encourage and register African-Americans to vote. The day of the triple murder, Schwerner, Chaney and Goodman were visiting Mt. Zion Methodist Church. The church had been bombed by the Ku Klux Klan because it was going to be used as a Freedom School. A total of 37 African-American churches were bombed in the summer of 1964. Established by CORE, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Freedom Schools were run by volunteers and taught a curriculum that included African-American history. There were 30 Freedom Schools throughout Mississippi, teaching over 3,000 students in the summer of 1964. Over 80 of the Freedom School volunteers were beaten or killed by mobs or police officers. Schwerner was originally enrolled at Michigan State University but transferred to Cornell after one year. He majored in rural sociology. Schwerner’s commitment to civil justice showed during his Cornell days when he successfully fought to have an African-American student pledge Alpha Epsilon Pi, his fraternity. The deaths of Schwerner, Chaney and Goodman have been memorialized here at Cornell with a stained glass window in Sage Chapel. This window serves as a reminder that “many had to give their lives in the struggle for greater justice,” as President Jeffrey S. Lehman ’77 said in his Jan. 17 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day speech. The Michael Schwerner Activist Award, funded by the Gleitsman Foundation, recognizes students who have taken leadership roles in efforts to solve issues of inequality and injustice. The Foundation was established by Alan Gleistman ’51. “Michael Schwerner [is] a role model of mine who dedicated his life to social justice,” said Natalie Bridgeman ’99, the first Cornellian to win the national award. The men’s deaths were also remembered in the 1988 film Mississippi Burning, which is based on their murders. On Sept. 27, the “Vote for Hope” non-partisan voting rally commemorated the 40th anniversary of the three men’s deaths. That rally was co-sponsored by the Cornell NAACP, the Multicultural Living Learning Unit, Black Students United, Cornell Hillel, and the Cornell-Israel Public Affairs Committee. Both Schwerner and Goodman were Jewish. “[Schwerner is a reminder] that people had to die to guarantee this right,” said Justin Davis ’07, a residential advisor in the Multicultural Living Learning Unit. Archived article by Rebecca ShovalSun Staff Writer