For immediate useNov. 11, 1997 -- No. 836

Betty concert to raise funds for new black cultural center

CHAPEL HILL -- Funky rockers Betty will perform a benefit concert at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Nov. 14 to help raise money for a new black cultural center at the university.

The New York City feminist pop trio is known for riotous live shows, infectious grooves, inventive melodies and intricate three-part harmonies. Provocative lyrics speak to social issues.

Tickets for the 9 p.m. show in 100 Hamilton Hall will cost $6 in advance or $8 at the door for UNC-CH students and $10 in advance, or $12 at the door, for others. Tickets are on sale at the Carolina Union Box Office, 962-1449, open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays; Internationalist Books, 405 W. Franklin St., Chapel Hill; Regulator Book Shop, 720 Ninth St., Durham; and Freedom Books and White Rabbit Books in Raleigh. Wheelchair patrons are welcome; sign language specialists will interpret.

So far, UNC-CH has raised $3.4 million of $7.5 million needed for a free-standing Sonja Haynes Stone Black Cultural Center. Since 1988, the center has operated in the Frank Porter Graham Student Union. The new center, to be funded entirely with private donations, will include a library, media center, classrooms and performance space.

The center offers academic programs and activities for all students. It seeks to bridge gaps in understanding among diverse groups at Carolina via scholarly investigations of African-American heritage.

The center serves the state by facilitating an appreciation of African and African-American culture and by producing positive programs that include lectures and performing arts. The center is named for Dr. Sonja Haynes Stone, a member of the UNC-CH faculty for more than 17 years before her death in 1991. A center advocate, Dr. Stone dedicated her life to improving race relations on campus and in the community.

UNC-CH student groups The Feminist Alliance and the BCC Ambassadors are sponsoring Betty's concert.

The alliance seeks to provide a network of support for graduate women and to promote dialogue and change in the university and Triangle communities on issues of concern to all women, according to organizers. As feminists, its members see connections among gender, race and class and believe that the free-standing black cultural center will be an important step toward social justice and a recognition of the significance of race on the UNC-CH campus.

The ambassadors are students who promote BCC activities and its purpose, on campus and in the community. They also help raise funds for the new center.

For more information, contact Christina Ewig at 929-7372 or christy@gibbs.oit.unc.edu

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BCC contact: Ange-Marie Hancock, 962-9001

News Services contact: Laura J. Toler