Second Annual Flame of Hope Gala Success Generates over 200 New Scholarships

American Indian College Fund
Saturday, 1 November 1997

Tribal College Friends Attend Flame of Hope Gala

The College Fund honored three special friends of the tribal colleges at a November black-tie gala in New York City, while raising $100,000 in scholarships for Indian college students.

More than 300 guests attended the 2nd annual Flame of Hope Gala at the Waldorf- Astoria Hotel. Donations and proceeds from an auction of Native art generated scholarships for 200 students at 30 colleges. College Fund trustee Susan Simon Tierney served as chair of the event. Prominent Hollywood actress Winona Ryder and Richard Masur, president of the Screen Actors Guild, were co-chairs.

During a dinner presentation, three individuals were honored for their work on behalf of the tribal colleges: Hon. Bill Richardson, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations; Forrest Gerard, former Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs; and posthumously, Ernest Boyer, the former U.S. Secretary of Education.

Ambassador Richardson championed the tribal colleges as a U.S. Congressman from New Mexico, a state with three of the institutions. Gerard, a member of the Blackfeet Tribe of Montana, was a key member of the Carter Administration when Congress first authorized federal support of the colleges in 1978.

"It is an honor to have been part of history that would change the face of Indian country," Gerard said.

As president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Ernest Boyer was responsible for the landmark 1989 report, Tribal Colleges: Shaping the Future of Native America. While praising the colleges for creating educational hope and rekindling cultural values, the study said Indian colleges have lessons to share with all of American society.

Dr. Boyer passed away in 1995. At the gala, Kay Boyer said her late husband would encourage the continuing work.

"He would wish to point out how crucial the tribal colleges are to the future of Native American societies," Mrs. Boyer said. "You will continue to enrich the lives of students and tribal societies, and indeed, you will enrich the whole nation."

Traditional tribal culture also was a part of the event. Actor Benjamin Bratt, star of the NBC television program Law & Order, spoke of the colleges' important mission of retaining, teaching and promoting Native ways of life. Indian recording artist Bill Miller and the SilverCloud Singers shared performances. The evening included a silent auction of Native art work, including donations from Buffy Sainte-Marie, Kevin Red Star and Darren Vigil-Gray.

"The Flame of Hope Gala is another way foundations and corporations can support scholarships for Native American students," said Laurie Bird Bratone, director of special events. "We are grateful for the generosity and interest that make the event more successful every year."

For more information, or to contact American Indian College Fund, see their website at: www.collegefund.org