News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 10, 2008

COTTEY HOSTS PEACE WEEK EVENTS

Cottey College will be hosting its first-ever Peace Week and several events are open to the public.

On Monday, September 15, events include a diversity workshop, the dedication of Cottey's Peace Pole, and a performance by the Afro-Latin Project. On Tuesday, September 16, the public is invited to hear Lizzie Rushing, a human rights advocate, speak on the importance of human rights.

The diversity workshop is titled "What Meets the Eye" and is scheduled for 4 p.m. in the Missouri Recital Hall of the Haidee and Allen Wild Center for the Arts. This workshop illustrates how to dispel the assumptions we make about others, see things from someone else's perspective, and will provide ideas on how to address diversity issues in schools, on campuses, and in communities.

Cottey's Peace Pole will be dedicated at 5:20 in the Peace Pole Garden behind the Chapel. The pole proclaims, "May Peace Prevail On Earth" in several languages.

At 8 p.m. in the Auditorium of the Center for the Arts, the Afro-Latin Project will take the stage. The drums, dances, voices, and costumes of the Afro-Latin Project will fill the Auditorium with the exuberant colors, movements, and sounds which developed in Latin America as a direct result of the African presence there. The irresistible energy of this ensemble celebrates the powerful African influence found in the music and cultures of Latin America, an influence which has spread throughout the world. The director of the Afro-Latin Project, Ed East, a native of Panama, conceived the idea of creating the ensemble after returning from a trip to Cuba, where he and a group of University of Iowa teachers and students spent time studying Afro-Cuban folkloric music and dances. The Afro-Latin Project's repertoire consists of music from Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Haiti, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, and Venezuela. The members of the ensemble are a mixture of Latin American and U.S. citizens who share an intense love of the African-rooted cultures and musical traditions of the Americas. Learn more about them on their Web site www.afrolatinproject.com.

Elizabeth "Lizzie" Rushing will take the stage in the Auditorium at 8 p.m. on Tuesday. This P.E.O. Scholars Award recipient is a human rights advocate who has worked in China, India, West Africa, and Switzerland. She holds a U.S. law degree from American University Washington College of Law and is currently a student of international human rights law in Paris, France. She will discuss what human rights are, why they are important, and how they are defined in international law.

Tickets are required for the Afro-Latin Project and are $6 for adults and $5 for those under age 18 or over age 62. Tickets may be purchased at the door the night of the performance. None of the other events listed require tickets.

The Afro-Latin Project presentation is supported by the Mid-America Arts Alliance with generous underwriting by the National Endowment for the Arts; the Missouri Arts Council; and foundations, corporations, and individuals throughout Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas. Financial assistance for this project has been provided by the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency. This project is part of Cottey's Peace Week, Hispanic Heritage Month, and CLASS (The Cottey Lecturers and Artists Super Series).

The Center for the Arts is on the northeast corner of Austin and Tower streets in Nevada, Missouri.