Hobart and William Smith Colleges

12 May 1999 Charity Ball To Benefit Harriet Tubman House

Geneva, NY Sankofa, the Black Student Union of Hobart and William Smith Colleges, is hosting Charity Ball 99 to celebrate courage, strength, success, and freedom. The ball will be held from 7 p.m. until 2 a.m. on Saturday, May 22, at the Holiday Inn in Waterloo. Shuttle transportation will be provided from campus between 5:30 p.m. and 2 a.m. Tickets can be purchased on the HWS campus at the Office of Student Life and Leadership and at The College Store. Tickets are $10 for students and $15 for all others. The public is invited.

This years profits will be donated to the Harriet Tubman House in Auburn, New York. The Colleges students chose the Tubman house because of their long-standing relationship with the not-for-profit agency that preserves the abolitionists home. The Colleges, through the Summer Academic Orientation Program, arrange for students to visit Tubman's house to educate students about Tubmans work against slavery.

William Smith junior Youlanda Barber, one of the events organizers, adamantly supports and describes the groups selection. Harriet Tubman was one of the most influential Black leaders of the 19th century. Her leadership freed more than 3,000 enslaved people through the Underground Railroad, and she was an active participant and advocate of the women's rights movement. Tubman's countless efforts to uplift the Black community is why Sankofa chose to celebrate her life.

For more information contact Mary LeClair at 315: 781-3540.

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