Consortium of Information & Telecommunications Executives Honors Scholarship Recipients at Conference
NEW YORK - Monique Booth of Hempstead, L.I., along with seven other college freshman from throughout the Northeast will be honored Sat., Sept. 30, at an awards luncheon in the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers, 811 Seventh Ave. Each student recently received a 4-year scholarship from Consortium of Information & Telecommunications Executives (CITE®).
Rev. Al Sharpton, founder and president, National Action Network, will congratulate the recipients in a keynote address at the luncheon. Each winner will be awarded a $2,000 scholarship, per year, for the next four years, provided they meet recertification requirements.
The scholarship celebration is part of CITE's annual development conference, which begins this Friday (9/29). CITE is a non-profit organization of African-American employees of Verizon Communications that provides employee advocacy and professional development as well as serving as a resource for the corporation and community.
Verizon Vice President and Associate General Counsel Sherry F. Bellamy will serve as master of ceremonies for the scholarship presentation.
Booth, who is now studying Biomedical Engineering at Penn State University in University Park, Pa., also will address the conference attendees at the luncheon.
"Coming from a single parent household, it was real stressful trying to figure out how I was going to pay for college," Booth said. "This scholarship has definitely helped to relieve some of the financial burden, which also enables me to focus more on doing well at Penn State."
The other scholarship recipients are:
Maurice J. Baxter, a graduate of Dorchester High School, Dorchester, Mass., who is attending Morehouse College in Atlanta where he is pursuing a degree in Accounting.
Inayah A. Brooks, a graduate of Indian River High School in Chesapeake, Va., who is attending Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Va., where she is pursuing a degree in Chemistry.
Sheena M. Mackin, a graduate of Overbrook High School in Philadelphia, who is attending Delaware State University in Dover, Del., where she is pursuing a degree in Sports Medicine.
Chevonne M. Mansfield, a graduate of Watkins Mill High School in Gaithersburg, Md., who is attending St. John's University in Jamaica, N.Y., where she is studying to become a Spanish translator.
Dawn N. Peeples, a graduate of New Brunswick High School in New Brunswick, N.J., who is attending Marshall University, in Huntington, W.Va., where she is pursuing a degree in Biomedical Engineering.
Alethea M. Predeoux, a graduate of Stephen Decatur High School in Berlin, Md., who is attending Spelman College in Atlanta, where she is pursuing a degree in Education.
Eboni B. Watters, a graduate of Williamson high School in Williamson, W. Va., who is attending Marshall University in Huntington, W. Va., where she is pursuing a degree in Nursing.
The eight scholarship recipients were chosen from some 400 applicants. In order to be considered for the scholarship, applicants must be African-American U.S. citizens, who are not related to any employee of the company. At the time of application, they must have been high school seniors with a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0 and have been accepted by an accredited college or university. The applicant's family must meet a minimum income requirement.
By the time these students graduate in 2003, CITE will have awarded 32-four year scholarships totaling $64,000.
Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ), formed by the merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE, is one of the world's leading providers of communications services. Verizon companies are the largest providers of wireline and wireless communications in the United States, with more than 100 million access line equivalents and 25.6 million wireless customers. A Fortune 10 company with more than 260,000 employees and approximately $60 billion in 1999 revenues, Verizon's global presence extends to 40 countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Pacific. For more information on Verizon, visit www.verizon.com.