SPC Hosts San Antonio's Eastside Tricentennial Celebration
March 9, 2018
ST. PHILIP'S COLLEGE HOSTS SAN ANTONIO’S EASTSIDE TRICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION MAY 3
All are welcome to attend San Antonio’s Eastside Tricentennial Celebration and Keynote Presentation featuring Dr. Ruth SimmonsMay 3 at 5:30 p.m. in the 600-seat Watson Fine Arts Center at 1801 Martin Luther King Drive in the City's Denver Heights neighborhood (building marked as "1" on the interactive map http://aplrealestate.com/spc/imap-mlk/).
While the event is open to the public with free admission and parking, seating is limited. Guests should RSVP by email to: Marsha Hall, assistant to the president of the college, at mhall13@aplrealestate.com and include the names of persons in their party.
Find details at the Tricentennial Commission's Partner Events Calendarhttp://www.sanantonio300.org/event/san-antonios-eastside-tricentennial-celebration-and-keynote-presentation-featuring-dr-ruth-simmons/.
The May 3 event features 22 fine artists, two historic interpretive programs, three musical groups and a distinguished corporate leader of a college within the Texas A&M system, all on the 120-year-old campus of the nation's only Historically Black College and Universities member institution with Hispanic Serving Institution status.
Guests can expect a performance by the San Antonio Symphony as they arrive, and Bexar County Buffalo Soldiers to post the colors in a flourish of patriotism for the Tricentennial event. The College Choir performs and the Tricentennial occasion's host, St. Philip's College President Dr. Adena Williams Loston, introduces the actress Antoinette Winstead in her portrayal of revered college president emeritus Artemisia Bowden in a one-woman play, setting the stage for the address by keynote speaker Dr. Ruth Simmons.
Dr. Simmons, a Houstonian and graduate of Houston’s Phillis Wheatley High School, is past president of both Smith College and Brown University. She has received numerous honorary degrees and honors and this spring, she was named chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Holdsworth Foundation that was created and funded by Mr. Charles Butt, Chairman and CEO of the HEB Corporation. The foundation is named for Mr. Butt’s mother, Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Holdsworth Butt, and focuses on education and leadership. Meanwhile, Dr. Simmons is serving as president of Prairie View A&M University.
A single drummer from the Sam Houston High School Drumline unit emerges inside the theater and leads guests outside where several drum line musicians lead the audience through the 120-year-old campus to a meet-the-speaker reception in the Bowden Alumni Center of the college's G. J. Sutton Learning Center building.
The reception area for Dr. Simmons is the exhibition space for I, Too, Sing San Antonio, an art exhibition curated by Dr. Scott Sherer and featuring 22 San Antonio African American Artists. The exhibition opens April 18.