I have a foggy memory of the political fights that went on many years ago to grant an observance of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday as a federal holiday. I recall that it went in stages: first there were non-binding resolutions which acknowledged that his leadership on civil rights were extraordinary, then they suggested a holiday to honor his work would be kind of nice thing to do, then real resolutions were introduced, then states started to adopt the holiday, then Arizona was a hold-out and then finally, finally MLK Day was official and federal and banks and schools were closed. Since Americans tend to not take healthy, extended vacations, but rather a pile-up of three and four day getaways, many people were thrilled at the thought of another Monday off, particularly in January and especially if the snow is good.

But then another identity about MLK Day began to take shape, and that was the idea of committing yourself to a day of service. Instead of a day off, MLK Day is a day ON. Use the day to serve your community by giving your time to work at a homeless shelter, pick up trash at the beach or park, do home visits to the elderly, mentor a kid, even take yourself down the local police and fire stations and introduce yourself to the people who will protect you in the event of an emergency. The sentiment behind this “Day On” is obvious: Dr. King was a man of action behind his words, which is what gave his leadership the credibility and the power to create change. If we all participate by serving, then we carry on the legacy of civil equality.

What if you are reading this at work? Or you click on this tonight after your epic powder day? What if you did not have the opportunity to volunteer today and now that you think of it you really want to do something in the spirit of MLK, and you have already donated and prayed for Haiti (and keep doing that too by the way)? I have something for you to do.

I would like you to support the US Public Service Academy, either for the first time, or the 48th time. I would like you to call or write an email to your Representative and to your Senators. If you have not signed the petition to create the first undergraduate institution to train public servants in leadership, policy, emergency management, ethics etc. in return for five years of service, then do that too. I would like you to demand of your Representatives and Senators that you want a place where young people are educated to serve the needs of the people so that the margin for error during an emergency like a Katrina or a Haiti is slim to none. Did you text off a donation to Haiti? Did spend a mere five minutes on that task and then post it to your Facebook status? Well, then spend 15 minutes today using your voice to demand that our government place value on the people who want to take care of our education, our safety, our health, by creating an institution on par with our military academies to train them. We deserve this.

Get to links for your Reps and Senators offices by going to this link on the USPSA website, or here or here. You can fill out one of their email forms, or call their offices directly to speak to a staffer. Other than the most obvious civic duty which is voting, it is also our job to tell our elected officials how to do theirs. They serve us, not vice versa. Use your time today to make MLK proud and participate in the process of being a citizen. It is a great honor and I guarantee you will feel fulfilled. Thank you for your support as always.

If you look at our list of college president endorsements, you might notice that we have won the support of many flagship state universities, including Texas, North Carolina, Michigan, Virginia, and (most recently) North Dakota. But you also might notice that we don’t have many of the elite private schools. No Harvard, no Yale, no Duke (my alma mater),…What gives?

When Shawn and I first started working on the Academy nearly four years ago, we thought we would be able to win strong support from higher education leaders. After all, college leaders love to talk about their commitment to public service (particularly at graduation time). But as we stepped behind the rhetoric, we found a striking difference in how different colleges approach “public service” and how they view the efforts of other universities to encourage service. In general — and there certainly are exceptions — we have found that public university leaders have a broader sense of their service mission and assume that encouraging students to serve the public is one of their key reasons for being. These leaders tend to view the Public Service Academy as complementary to their efforts. They recognize, for example, that having the various campuses of the University of Michigan does not impede the efforts of Kalamazoo College or any of the other fine private schools in the state. The more opportunities, the better.

But many elite private institutions view us instead as competition — they fear losing students and/or funding to the Academy. We have had dozens of conversations with private school administrators who express concern that having a national Academy would somehow detract from what they are doing at their particular school. How sad and short-sighted — particularly when it comes from a school that rejects 80%-90% of its applicants! Apparently, these “leaders” would prefer to deny students more opportunities to serve rather than face the competition of a civilian Academy.

August 2009 witnessed the passing of a tremendous American who spent decades working to help our nation fulfill its most audacious promises: Eunice Kennedy Shriver. Yes, her brother, Sen. Edward Kennedy, was a tremendous legislator whose death has transfixed much of the nation, but Eunice led an extraordinary life full of enduring accomplishments. The ingrained sexism of the time may have prevented her from following her brothers into politics, but she did not simply stand on the sidelines — she was a force all her own. Moved by the troubles of her mentally ill sister, Eunice launched what became the Special Olympics from the backyard of her home in Rockville, Maryland, and she helped create the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. She and her husband, Sargent Shriver, inspired millions of Americans to become active citizens. She will not be forgotten.