REMINDER/National Scholarship Month 2003 Kickoff--May 1 & 2, 2003; Mobilizing Business and Communities to Help Realize Students' Dreams.

Business Editors/Education Writers

REMINDER...for Thursday-Friday (May 1-2)

--(BUSINESS WIRE)

    WHEN: Thursday, May 1, 2003, 5:30-8:00 p.m. National Scholarship
        Month Reception
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    WHERE: National Press Club, 529 14th Street, NW, Washington, DC

    WHO:

    Guest Speakers:

    --  Senator Robert J. Dole, National Scholarship Month
        Spokesperson and recipient of Scholarship America's(SM) 2003
        President's Award for his role as co-chair of the Families of
        Freedom Scholarship Fund, created by Scholarship America to
        provide scholarships for dependents of 9/11 victims

    --  U.S. Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), funds scholarships
        for displaced Oregon workers out of congressional pay raises

    --  Claes Nobel, Honorary Chairman, National Society of High
        School Scholars

    --  Jennifer Rahm, University of Pennsylvania graduate student and
        scholarship recipient from Ford Family Foundation, Hometown:
        Eugene, Oregon.

    --  OrLando H. Yarborough III, University of Maryland senior and
        scholarship recipient from the National Institutes of Health
        (NIH) Undergraduate Scholarship Program, Hometown: Baltimore,
        Maryland.

    Hosts: Scholarship America and National Scholarship Providers
        Association (NSPA):

    --  William C. Nelsen, President, Scholarship America, and
        President of the Board, NSPA

    --  Rob Marqusee, Interim Executive Director, NSPA

    WHY:

    --  By 2028, there will 19 million more jobs than educated workers
        to fill them, according to the Business-Higher Education
        Forum, Jan. 9, 2003.

    --  Tuition is rising four times faster than the average family
        income. Steepest tuition hikes come during recessions when
        incomes remain flat and unemployment spikes, U.S. News & World
        Report, Sept. 30, 2003

    --  In the next decade, six million qualified students won't go to
        college because of the cost of higher education. One quarter
        of the brightest low-income students don't go to college
        because of college costs. USA Today, June 27, 2002
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    WHEN: Friday, May 2, 2003, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
    --------------------------------------------
    WHERE: National Press Club, 529 14th Street, Washington, DC

    10 a.m.--Recognition Ceremony for Scholarship Recipients

    10:30-11:30 a.m.--Panel Discussion: "Mobilizing the Private Sector
        to Help Support Students' Educational Dreams"

    12:30-2 p.m.--Newsmaker Luncheon with Miss America 2003 Erika
        Harold

    WHO:

    Newsmaker Luncheon:

    --  Miss America 2003 Erika Harold, Newsmaker Luncheon

    Panel:

    --  Carl Dalstrom, moderator, president and CEO, USA Funds,
        National Supporting Sponsor of National Scholarship Month

    --  Kay Carlson, president and CEO of AXA Foundation, National
        Presenting Sponsor of National Scholarship Month

    --  Mim Schreck, president, Easy Spirit, recognized during
        National Scholarship Month

    --  Kathryn A. Bushkin, senior vice president, AOL Time Warner and
        president, AOL Time Warner Foundation

    Scholarship Recipients:

    --  Viola Cooper, nursing major at Howard University sophomore,
        Dollars for Scholars(R)(R) scholarship recipient Calvin
        Coolidge Alumni Association, Hometown: Washington, D.C.

    --  Vladimir Vojnovic, immigrated from Bosnia in 1995, majoring in
        business at Georgetown University, recipient of Scholarship
        Management Services Scholarship/ Hershey Foods Corporation
        Scholarship, Hometown: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

    --  Andrea Wilson, senior at Archbishop Carroll High School in
        Washington, D.C. Considering pre-med at Hampton University or
        Spelman College, Scholarship Management Services
        Scholarship/AXA Achievement Scholarship Program, Hometown:
        Burtonsville, Maryland.
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    WHEN: Thursday, May 1, 2003 at 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m.
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    WHERE: Zola's restaurant, 800 F Street, NW, Washington, DC

    WHO:

    Keynote Speaker: Mim Schreck, President of Easy Spirit on why
        spreading the spirit of education is so important.

    Panelists:

    --  The Honorable Chan Heng Chee, Singapore's Ambassador to the
        United States

    --  Jody K. Hassett, producer, ABC News

    --  Jill Ramsfield, professor of law, director of legal research
        and writing, Georgetown University Law Center

    --  Moderator: Jessica Abrahams, partner, Powell, Goldstein,
        Frazer & Murphy, LLP

    Student Speaker: Viola Cooper, from D.C., sophomore nursing major
        at Howard University, Dollars for Scholars scholarship
        recipient

    WHAT: Scholarship America and Easy Spirit will host a luncheon
        with D.C.'s Leading Ladies(R) to kick off the Easy Spirit
        Freedom Walk for Education Benefiting Dollars for Scholars.
        This event will announce the campaign to raise awareness for
        the 5K walkathons, which will be held this fall across America
        to raise money for Dollars for Scholars, a program of
        Scholarship America, the nation's largest nonprofit, private
        sector scholarship and educational support organization.

    About the Easy Spirit Freedom Walk for Education Benefiting
        Dollars for Scholars

    --  All money raised in the Easy Spirit Freedom Walk for Education
        stays with the community whose volunteers and students laced
        their shoes and hit the trail to raise funds to provide
        Dollars for Scholars scholarships. This philosophy has always
        been the essence of Dollars for Scholars -- communities
        supporting homegrown educational dreams through grassroots
        scholarship fundraising. Easy Spirit, a leading women's shoe
        brand, is a proud sponsor of Scholarship America.

    --  Each pair of Easy Spirit's 2003 Freedom Shoe Collection is
        adorned with Baer Gallery artist Dean Baer's "US - One of a
        Kind" American flag image; Easy Spirit will donate $1 of
        proceeds of its sales of Freedom Shoes to Dollars for
        Scholars. The Baer Gallery, also a sponsor of Scholarship
        America, donates $10 per print sale of "US - One of a Kind"
        (www.usoneofakind.com) to Scholarship America.