FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 8, 2000 CONTACT: Jody Swilky, (515) 271-2853 Lisa Lacher, (515) 271-3119 DRAKE TO PRESENT PROGRAM, DISCUSSION ON FAMOUS DISCRIMINATION EXPERIMENT A PBS "Frontline" program about Iowa teacher Jane Elliot and the "Brown Eyes, Blue Eyes" experiment that made her famous will be shown at Drake University on Wednesday, Feb. 16. "A Class Divided" will be presented at 9 p.m. in room 206 of the Pharmacy and Science Center, 2802 Forest Ave. The presentation is free and open to the public. It will be followed by an informal discussion led by Drake faculty members Min-Zahn Lu, associate professor of English, and Janet Wirth-Cauchon, assistant professor of sociology, along with two Drake students - Ajenai Clemmons and Leah Makemson. In the "Brown Eyes, Blue Eyes" experiment in 1970, Elliot divided her third-grade class in Riceville, Iowa, into two groups based on eye color. The children with blue eyes were told they were better than the children with brown eyes. While the blue-eyed children were encouraged in their studies and given special privileges, the brown-eyed children were told not to use the drinking fountain and not to play with the blue-eyed children. Elliot then altered the experiment so that the brown-eyed students received preferential treatment. The study was designed to give students a first-hand experience of what it felt like to be discriminated against. "A Class Divided," produced in 1985, reunites Elliot and her former students to discuss the effects of this experience. The program also presents Elliot's efforts to reduce discrimination in the workplace. The event is sponsored by Drake's Cultural Studies Program and the Drake Center for the Humanities. For more information, call (515) 271-2853.