For Immediate Release Contact:
Leslie A. Dunbar
(212)558-5438
ldunbar@nul.org

NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE HONORS BANK OF AMERICA AND BELL ATLANTIC CORPORATIONS AND MORGAN STANLEY DEAN WITTER MANAGING DIRECTOR WILLIAM LEWIS AT ITS ANNUAL EQUAL OPPORTUNITY DAY DINNER

New York, NY, Nov. 9, 1999–During its annual Equal Opportunity Day (EOD) Dinner at PIER SIXTY in New York this evening, the National Urban League is awarding its highest honors to two major corporations and one outstanding corporate individual for their support of critical League initiatives.

Bank of America Corporation and Bell Atlantic Corporation are slated to receive the organization’s Corporate Leadership Award. The League is also recognizing Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. managing director William M. Lewis with its Outstanding Community Service Award.

A major supporter of the Urban League’s Housing and Community Development Department, Bank of America has provided the League with training, technical assistance and monetary support necessary to advance the homeownership programs enacted through League affiliates. The corporation also provided notable monetary support with the largest corporate endowment grant ($3 million) recorded since National Urban League President Hugh B. Price took office in 1994.

The Bell Atlantic Foundation–the philanthropic arm of the Bell Atlantic Corporation–has been a major supporter of the National Urban League’s Technology Programs and Policy department. The Foundation has donated the expert talent and training needed to get the League’s community technology centers up and running, and provided more than $1 million in monetary support for them. At these centers, Urban League constituents have access to the hardware and software they need to "plug into cyberspace," thereby crossing the "Digital Divide" that separates so many communities from the world of technology.

Morgan Stanley Dean Witter’s Lewis, a member of the League’s Board of Trustees for many years, receives his honor for his work on behalf of the League’s fundraising efforts. Most recently, Lewis has been a driving force behind the League’s efforts to create an endowment supported solely by members of the African-American community. As co-chair of the initiative, Lewis led by example, making the largest individual contribution ever recorded by the League.

Other National Urban League EOD award recipients include supermodel/entrepreneur Iman (Humanitarian Award) and Temple University Presidential Scholar Dr. Bernard C. Watson (Special Recognition Award). Co-emcees for the awards ceremony are NBC’s Today Show Al Roker, and his wife, ABC’s 20/20 Correspondent Deborah Roberts. National Football League Commissioner Paul Tagliabue is the Dinner Chair. A special reception at 6:00 p.m. precedes the dinner, which follows immediately at 7:00 p.m.

The Urban League’s EOD Dinner was established in 1956 to recognize corporations and individuals who have made outstanding contributions towards creating equal opportunities in urban communities and advancing the agenda for issues deemed exemplary of the League’s mission.

Founded in 1910, the National Urban League is the premier social service and civil rights organization in America. The League is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, community-based movement, headquartered in New York City with professionally staffed affiliates in 115 cities in 35 states and the District of Columbia.