FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Dachell McSween

Atlanta, GA, May 30, 2000–Three students will receive a Jerry Bartow Scholarship during this year’s Black Executive Exchange Program (BEEP) Annual Conference beginning May 30 through June 2 at the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta.

Two recipients–Brian Thompson of North Carolina Central University in Durham, NC and Clementine L. Hazel of Claflin College in Orangeburg, SC–will receive $1500 awards. Kevin Charles, also of Claflin College will receive $500.

BEEP, a one-of-a-kind mentoring and professional development program that enlists corporate executives to teach seminars, workshops and accredited courses on the campuses of the nation’s historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), is a program of the National Urban League, a social service and civil rights group.

This year marks the 31^st anniversary of the BEEP conference in Atlanta. The major conference sponsor this year is United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS), the world\'s largest express carrier and package delivery company.

Bartow, a former Senior Vice President and Director of Administration at ITT Hartford Insurance Group and a former National Urban League trustee board member, served as chairman of the BEEP Executive Advisory Committee for thirteen years.

The ITT Hartford Insurance Company, in recognition of Bartow’s service to ITT, his long-standing commitment to the development of young people and his dedication to BEEP and the National Urban League, established the scholarship in Bartow’s name in 1997.

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This year’s scholarship recipients were drawn from among some 20,000 students attending the nation’s HBCUs who participate in the BEEP program.

Brian Thompson is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration with a concentration in International Business and a minor in Spanish at North Carolina Central University. He was a former intern at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, DC. Thompson also volunteers for the Durham Habitat for Humanity and the Durham Hispanic Center Community Outreach. He expects to graduate in May 2001.

Clementine L. Hazel is a Business Administration major at Claflin College with a 4.0 g.p.a. Her goals include becoming a politician and someday the first woman president of the United States. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Claflin Honors College Scholar and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Scholar. Her anticipated graduation date is May 2003.

Kevin T. Charles is an honor student at Claflin College majoring in Management Information Services. Currently, Charles works as a lab assistant at Claflin College. He is engaged in many volunteer activities and holds memberships in several organizations including the Friends of the Earth Recycling Club and the National Association of African American Honor Programs. His intended graduation date is May 2003.

For more information about BEEP, please contact the National Urban League at 212-558-5300.

ITT Hartford Group, Inc. ("ITT Hartford" and, together with its subsidiaries, ITT Hartford Group,) is a holding company that owns, directly or indirectly, a number of insurance companies, including Hartford Fire Insurance Company ("Hartford Fire"). ITT Hartford Group, a diversified international organization founded in 1810, is the seventh largest property and casualty insurer and the eighth largest life insurer in the United States, with total assets of $100.2 billion and equity of $4.4 billion at June 30, 1996.

Founded in 1910, the National Urban League is a nonprofit organization whose 114 affiliates in 34 states and the District of Columbia provide direct services focused on empowering African-Americans to achieve economic, academic and racial equality. The League’s headquarters is located at 120 Wall Street in New York City.