MEDIA ADVISORY, May 25, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) --
WHAT: The annual Posse Foundation Gala. The Posse Foundation
identifies public high school students with extraordinary
academic and leadership potential, who may be overlooked by
the traditional college selection process. The Foundation
extends to these students the opportunity to pursue personal
achievement and academic excellence by placing them in
supportive, multi-cultural teams ("posses") of 10 students.
The Foundation's partner universities acknowledge Posse
Scholars by awarding them four-year, full-tuition, leadership
scholarships. The Posse Gala honors three "Stars" each year.
Posse Stars are people who have made a difference in the field
of education. Each year Posse honors a member of the
community, a Posse partner college president, and a Posse
alum.
WHY: Posse exists to help address persistent issues of inequity
among the nation's public school children. Posse focuses on
helping top colleges to redefine merit in their admissions
processes by including leadership and extra-curricular
achievement as part of the assessment process. With the
recent Supreme Court decision on affirmative action, Posse is
more important now than ever. Posse develops teams of young
people to act as both traveling support systems for each other
and also as catalysts for positive change on university
campuses. The Posse Foundation has achieved phenomenal
success with a 90 percent college graduation rate--far higher
than the national average. This year, Posse will award its
1,000th scholarship. In its 15-year history, Posse Scholars
have won a total of over $85 million in leadership, merit,
scholarships from Posse's top tier university partners.
WHO:
* Congressman Charlie Rangel
* Lesley Stahl, Correspondent and Co-Editor of 60 Minutes, and
Anchor of 48 Hours Investigates
* Robert Bottoms, president, DePauw University
* Ron Liebowitz, president, Middlebury College
* Russell Osgood, president, Grinnell College
* Jehuda Reinharz, president, Brandeis University
* Deborah Bial, Posse Foundation founder and president
* Posse Foundation program directors from New York, Boston,
Los Angeles and Chicago; Posse Foundation alumni
WHEN: Wednesday, May 26, 2004
6:30-7:30 p.m. cocktails
7:30-10:00 p.m. dinner and program
WHERE: The Metropolitan Pavilion
125 West 18th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues
New York City