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NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE TO HONOR STUDENTS FOR ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE THROUGH INDUCTION INTO NATIONAL ACHIEVERS SOCIETY

Organization’s Campaign for African American Achievement

Illustrates the Power of Corporate Support and Adult Involvement

San Diego, CA, June 28, 2001–The National Urban League announced today that more than 400 student members of the San Diego Urban League–and more than 3,500 other Urban League students nationwide–will be inducted this year into the League’s National Achievers Society.

An honor society for African American and other minority youth who are members of the League’s Campaign for African American Achievement and who secure a 3.0 grade point average or better, the National Achievers Society has more than 16,000 members nationwide.

Corporate supporters include Fortune 500 corporations, and local businesses in Urban League affiliate communities. To date, these businesses have contributed more than $30 million to the Campaign’s operations, along with generous scholarship awards and in-kind contributions.

Close parental and caregiver involvement is another key element of the success of the Campaign; students eligible for induction into the National Achievers Society must have an adult sponsor who will agree to serve as a mentor or role model in the student’s life.

The San Diego induction ceremony will take place on Saturday, June 30, beginning with a 12:00 PM press conference at the Bayview Baptist Church in San Diego, Calif. The induction ceremony begins at 2:00 PM (all times are pacific standard).

Judge Joe Brown, well-known as the presiding judge of the syndicated reality courtroom show Judge Joe Brown, and also known for presiding over the reopening of the James Earl Ray case, will serve as the ceremony’s emcee.

Press conference participants include National Urban League President Hugh B. Price, San Diego Urban League Executive Vice President and COO Jimma McWilson, Congress of National Black Churches President Bishop Cecil Bishop, and National Achievers Society inductees.

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Background

The Campaign for African American Achievement, brainchild of Hugh B. Price, the League’s seventh president, is a community mobilization and advocacy initiative created to raise awareness and promote the understanding that achievement matters.

The Campaign seeks to counter anti-achievement messages young people receive and to ensure that educators and policymakers provide quality education, youth development opportunities and adequate support to our young people.

An aggressive collaboration with the Congress of National Black Churches (65,000 churches nationwide) and more than 20 African-American organizations including faith-based, social and civic and professional groups, the Campaign is also a mechanism for holding schools accountable for the quality of education they deliver.

"At the community level, the Campaign seeks to change the way kids view achievement, by turning it from a negative into a positive through public celebration and recognition, and by providing unlimited support from adults," Price explained.

"At the government and policy levels, Campaign partners work to ensure that the government agencies and administrators responsible for shaping the nation’s education policies are ensuring the delivery of quality education and adequately trained educators to our children."

The San Diego Urban League, founded in 1953, is one of the more than 100 affiliates of the National Urban League. The San Diego Urban League\'s mission is to assist African Americans and other people of color in the achievement of social and economic equality. The League has reached out to more than 425,000 constituents in the San Diego area who have taken advantage of the agency\\\'s social services. Some of those services include employment and training, education, housing and health, all of which are offered to its clients at no cost.

The Urban League is the nation’s oldest and largest community-based movement devoted to empowering African Americans to enter the economic and social mainstream. The National Urban League, headquartered in New York City, spearheads the nonprofit, nonpartisan movement, while Urban League affiliates operate in more than 100 cities in 34 states and the District of Columbia.