HARVARD'S GATES TO CHAIR ADVISORY BOARD OVERSEEING $50 MILLION IN GRANTS TO FURTHER RACIAL EQUALITY

Henry Louis Gates Jr., chair of the African and African-American studies department at Harvard University, has been appointed to head an advisory board that will direct $50 million to individuals and
organizations working to further racial equality. Also on the board of advisers is Princeton University professor K. Anthony Appiah, Amy Gutmann, the president-elect of the University of Pennsylvania, and
Thelma Golden, the curator of the Studio Museum in Harlem.

The board was established by Alphonse Fletcher Jr., founder and chair of the Wall Street firm Fletcher Asset Management, who is contributing the money. Included in the grant program will be fellowship awards of $50,000 for scholars, writers, and artists whose works foster increased equality between the races. Fletcher will also donate $50,000 each year to support the public school reform efforts of Dr. James P. Comer, a child psychiatrist at Yale University. Scholarships for black students will also be offered to the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

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