Legendary Comedian Bill Cosby to Perform at L.E.A.P. Benefit

Comedian Bill Cosby will visit Yale University on Friday, November 10 to appear at a benefit for Leadership, Education and Athletics in Partnership at Woolsey Hall, corner of Grove and College streets, at 8:00 p.m.

Cosby is donating his time for this event, which is hosted by Yale along with generous corporate supporters. The evening’s proceeds will benefit Leadership, Education and Athletics in Partnership (L.E.A.P.), a mentoring program founded in the summer of 1992 by a group Yale students and New Haven neighborhood leaders that pairs inner-city youth with college students.

Yale President Richard C. Levin said, “We at Yale are beginning to celebrate our tercentennial and, as we do, we celebrate the three centuries of excellence in the fields of public service and the performing arts. I am delighted that Bill Cosby will be honoring us with this performance, for he embodies the highest ideals of humanitarian service and excellence in the arts. It is fitting that this evening will help support an organization, L.E.A.P., that represents the best that universities and their communities can achieve when they work together on behalf of children.”

William H. Cosby Jr. was born to William and Anna Cosby on July 12 in Germantown Hospital, Philadelphia, Pa. Calling himself a “late bloomer,” he did not realize the value of a formal education until after the first four days of boot camp in the U.S. Navy. Cosby said, “Four years later in May, when I got out of the Navy, I hit the ground running from Norfolk, Virginia and immediately enrolled in Temple University in Philadelphia.”

Cosby is well known for his commitment to education. He emphatically believes that the best assurance for a satisfying and rewarding life begins with knowledge. Cosby himself went back to college, long after he had achieved much of his success, to obtain a master’s degree as well as an Ed.D. He has, in fact, applied this further education in his professional life.

He has never stopped realizing the importance of challenging himself. “People always say ‘you don’t need money, why are you still working?’ My answer is that it isn’t about money. That’s academic. It’s about accepting the challenges of one’s own ideas, clarifying the unanswered questions and pursuing the excitement of discovery.”

L.E.A.P. (www.leap.yale.edu) is a nationally recognized model youth program that serves about 1,300 children annually in 4 Connecticut cities. The program’s mission is to develop the strengths and talents of young leaders who create and implement year-round, community-based programming designed to achieve positive academic and social outcomes for children (ages 7-14) living in high-poverty urban neighborhoods.

Yale University is hosting the event, which is also being produced with the generous support of Arthritis and Osteoporosis Center, Cox Radio, Citizens Bank, Cummings & Lockwood, Fusco Corporation, Jane Marcher Foundation, New Haven Public Education Fund, New Haven Savings Bank, Newschannel 8, Simione Scillia Larrow & Dowling LLC, SNET, Susman and Duffy, Webster Bank and Yale-New Haven Hospital. Cosby can be contacted through The Brokaw Company, at 310-273-2060.

Tickets for “An Evening with Bill Cosby” are available exclusively through the New Haven Symphony Orchestra Box Office, with reserved seating at $60, $30, and $15. Patron tickets also are available for $100 and include a gala reception immediately following the performance at Yale University Commons. Tickets may be purchased by telephone using major credit cards at (203) 776-1444 or in person at the NHSO box office, Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at 70 Audubon Street, 3rd Floor, in downtown New Haven’s Audubon Street Arts District. Credit cards, cash, and personal checks are accepted.