"I wanted to do a black version of Encarta," Gates said.

Microsoft granted Gates the necessary funding and stipulated that Gates produce two million words in 15 months.

For the "bread and butter" articles, Gates used a research team working in Vanserg Hall. Longer, more interpretive articles were solicited from academics around the world.

Gates then showed the audience an audio-visual sampling of the final Encarta Africana, released several weeks ago.

The Encarta Africana includes video footage of riots both in the Los Angeles and South Africa's Soweto township, as well as videotaped lectures from celebrities ranging from Fletcher University Professor Cornel R. West '74 to Whoopi Goldberg.

The CD-ROM also, includes "the flora and fauna of Africa," Gates said.

Encarta Africana features video tours of important sites in black culture, including Timbuktu and Harlem.

"We want to use projects like this," said Gates, "to get our [African-American] community into learning."

Gates added that one goal is to give blacks a sense of their own history, dating as far back as black pharoahs from the Kush empire near Egypt, all of whom can be found in Encarta Africana.

"It should be part of every high school, every American history course," Gates said.

Gates predicted that the Encarta Africana will help fight racism by educating people from an early age. A second edition of the encyclopedia will be released this fall.

Sigma Chi invites speakers from the Harvard community to speak at its house on a semi-annual basis.