Sep. 12, 1996-Vol28n03: Lecture Oct. 2 by leading African-American scholar opens 1996-97 Distinguished Speakers Series

Lecture Oct. 2 by leading African-American scholar
opens 1996-97 Distinguished Speakers Series

By MARY BETH SPINA
News Services Editor

Leading African-American scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. will kick off UB's 1996-97 Distinguished Speakers Series with a lecture at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 2, in the Center for the Arts Mainstage theater on the North Campus.

Other speakers scheduled as part of the popular series are Emmy-winning actor and unofficial mayor of Los Angeles Edward James Olmos on Nov. 19 and Nobel and Pulitzer-Prize-winning author Toni Morrison on April 24.

The series is presented by UB in conjunction with the Don Davis Auto World Lectureship Fund. Co-sponsor is Key Bank; the Amherst Chamber of Commerce is the series affiliate sponsor.

A fierce defender of affirmative action, Gates is a prolific essayist on such issues as the First Amendment, anti-Semitism, ethnic identity, rap music and what he considers a crisis in black leadership.

He is the Distinguished W.E.B. Du Bois Professor of Humanities at Harvard University, where he also serves as a professor of English, chair of the Department of Afro-American Studies and director of the Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research.

Educated at Yale and Cambridge universities, his books include "The Signifying Monkey: Towards a Theory of African-American Literary Criticism," "Loose Canons: Notes on the Culture Wars" and his 1994 memoirs, "Colored People."

The lecture is sponsored by the UB Office of Conferences and Special Events and Key Bank. Contributing sponsors are the Buffalo Marriott, UB Center for the Arts, Makin' Copies, UB Alumni Association and the James Fenton Lecture Foundation.

Series tickets for Tier 1 (orchestra) are $54; $45 for Tier 2 (rear orchestra) and $36, Tier 3 (balcony). Discount series tickets for Tier 1 are $50 for UB faculty, staff, alumni and senior citizens and $34 for UB students. Discount price for Tier 2 is $41 and $25; Tier 3 is $32 and $16.

Olmos is the "Student Choice Speaker;" his lecture is free to UB students.

Individual lecture prices are: $16 for Gates and Olmos for Tier 1; $13 for Tier 2 and $10, Tier 3. Morrison's lecture will be $28, Tier 1; $24, Tier 2 and $20, Tier 3.

For faculty, staff, alumni and senior citizens, Tier 1 is $14 for Gates and Olmos; $26 for Morrison. Tier 2 is $11 for Gates and Olmos; $22 for Morrison. Tier 3 is $9 for Gates and Olmos; $18 for Morrison. UB student prices are $12, Gates, and $24, Morrison, Tier 1; $9, Gates and $20, Morrison, Tier 2; and $7, Gates, and $16, Morrison, Tier 3.

Series subscriptions and discounts can be purchased only by mail order or in person at Center for the Arts Ticket Office.