The 2001 Chicago NAACP Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO) local competition

May 12 (registration begins at 8:30 a.m.)

Malcolm X Community College
1900 W. Van Buren St.

Supporting the efforts of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to inspire and encourage African-American youth toward excellence in academic and artistic pursuits, the University of Illinois at Chicago invites eligible Chicago-area high school students to the 2001 ACT-SO local competition.

The ACT-SO competition was founded by nationally acclaimed newspaper journalist and television commentator Vernon Jarrett, who coined the ACT-SO slogan "A scholar has a right to be a hero." Jarrett, retired columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Defender, is a senior fellow at the Great Cities Institute at UIC.

The NAACP sponsors the ACT-SO competition each year through its local chapters. High school students throughout the country compete in the areas of science, humanities and performing and visual arts. Gold medalists from Chicago will represent the city at the national NAACP ACT-SO competition in New Orleans in early July.

African-American high school students, grades 9 - 12, can still register for the local competition. Applications should be available at each public or parochial high school in Chicago or at the NAACP Southside Branch office.