Join us for an evening of dancing and drinks when Dillard University Athletics hosts the Third Annual Billy Ray Hobley Gala on Friday, Feb. 4, 2011. The scholarship benefit, named for the late Harlem Globetrotter and Dillard basketball great, will be held at 7 p.m. on Dillard's campus in the Professional Schools Building.

This year's gala will honor Dillard coaching legends John Brown and the late Mary D. Teamer. Attendees will include New Jersey Nets Head Coach Avery Johnson (pictured), former Indiana Pacer and New York Knick Jonathan Bender, and more. New Orleans R&B band BRW will perform.

Tickets are $75 and are available by calling (504) 816-4654 or (504) 816-4953, or visiting the Dillard University cashier's office in Rosenwald Hall, Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. All proceeds will go to the Billy Ray Hobley Scholarship Fund to benefit Dillard students.

The day after the gala, Dillard will square off against crosstown rivals Xavier in the annual Bleu Devil Classic basketball doubleheader in Dent Hall Gymnasium on the Dillard campus. Make it a Bleu Devil weekend!

For more information on the Billy Ray Hobley Gala and the Bleu Devil Classic, please call the Athletics Department at (504) 816-4953 or Sports Information Director Victor Turner at (504) 816-4451, or visit www.dillardbleudevils.com.

The annual Louisiana College Goal Sunday will be held on Feb. 20 from 2-4 p.m. in DUICEF 106 on the Dillard campus. College Goal Sunday is a free event where financial aid professionals help students with the often confusing process of filing a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). All students are asked to register in advance for this free event.

For more information and to register for College Goal Sunday, please click here.

Every month, Dillard University salutes those staff members who go the extra mile. Dillard employees are encouraged to nominate colleagues who "got caught doing something good" for the Eagle Award. Efficiency, integrity, volunteer service, a positive attitude, and dedication to Dillard University are among the qualities for which individuals are selected. Employees must receive three nominations in order to be eligible. We thank the Eagle Award winners for October 2010 -- Warren Page, Angela Pittman, Michell Matthew, Letonia Taylor, Joel Young and Virgil Robertson -- for a job well done.

(L-R:) Warren Page, Angela Pittman, Michell Matthew, President Marvalene Hughes, Letonia Taylor, Joel Young and Virgil Robertson.

The Dillard University theatre department has partnered with Junebug Productions for a presentation of "Inside the Creole Mafia" on Friday, Dec. 10 and Saturday, Dec. 11 at 8 p.m. in the Samuel DuBois Cook Fine Arts Center on Dillard's campus. A discussion will follow the Friday evening performance.

"Inside the Creole Mafia" explores issues of race and identity in New Orleans. Billed as a "not too dark comedy," the show was first presented in 1993 and has been updated to reflect the tragedies of Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill. Mark Broyard and Roger Guenveur Smith, who co-wrote the show, will star in the two-man staging at Dillard University.

Tickets are on sale now and may be purchased at the Dillard Univeristy Box Office in the Cook Center. Call (504) 816-4857 for details. Tickets are $15. Discounts are available for students, seniors, active military, and groups of 10 or more.

Click here for the Junebug Productions press release.