An Indiana University of Pennsylvania senior and Pittsburgh native recently won a design contest to create the graphic for the school's commemorative 150th-anniversary T-shirt.

Luke Leccia, a 2022 graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School, was recognized for his award-winning design during Saturday's IUP 150th carnival celebration.

T-shirts with his design were handed out to IUP students during the carnival.

Leccia is gearing up for his second year as a student designer for IUP's Office of Marketing and Communications this fall. He says he enjoys his work in the IUP Design Studio, especially creating T-shirt designs.

"I like making T-shirt designs because your design becomes something very tangible, not just an image on the computer," he said. "I really appreciated the opportunity to enter the contest, and I feel very fortunate to have my design selected.

"T-shirts are kind of a unifying force; almost everyone wears a T-shirt, and I hope that my design brings joy to people. In graphic design, there's a lot of anonymity, and I'm not a person who wants to be in the spotlight, but it's fun to see people walking around wearing my design," he said.

He saw his design on the anniversary T-shirt in a photo after learning his design was selected, but hadn't actually seen the T-shirt in person until Saturday's carnival.

As the winner of the design contest, he receives a $500 gift certificate from the IUP Co-op Store. 

"I don't really need a lot of books or other supplies for my major, so I'm hoping that I can help out some of my friends by using my gift certificate for books and other things they need for their classes," he said.

IUP's sesquicentennial events will continue through the 2025-2026 academic year.