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NCAA News Archive - 2007
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Forum gives potential journalists scholarship help
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By Leilana McKindra
The NCAA News
The NCAA News
The Freedom Forum, in conjunction with the NCAA, announced eight recipients of an annual scholarship for undergraduate students studying sports journalism at NCAA institutions.
The Freedom Forum/NCAA Sports Journalism Scholarship is a one-year award of $3,000 available to students entering their senior year of study and who are majoring in journalism, sports journalism or have campus sports journalism experience. The scholarship program is designed to foster freedoms of speech and press, while promoting quality sports journalism education at NCAA institutions. Since 1992, the Freedom Forum has awarded about 100 scholarships totaling more than $300,000.
The 2007-08 recipients of the Freedom Forum/NCAA Sports Journalism Scholarship are Tristan S. Aird, California Polytechnic State University; Katherine E. Carrera, Ohio University; Alexander D. Goldberger, Yale University; Whitney A. Harding, Southern Methodist University; Ashley R. Hicks, University of Southern California; Jonathan D. Hines, Indiana University, Bloomington; Joshua S. Robinson, Columbia University; and Lindsay R. Schnell, Oregon State University.
“The scholarships provide students with an opportunity to learn the strategies of sports writing and to practice the trade while in schools,” said Charles Overby, chair and chief executive officer of the Freedom Forum and a member of the NCAA Leadership Advisory Board.
The Freedom Forum is a nonpartisan, nonprofit foundation with offices in Arlington, Virginia, and at Vanderbilt University. The annual application deadline for the scholarship is December.
Washington, a junior redshirt quarterback, was at the store when he was recognized by a family whose daughter had a terminal illness. As he and the family talked, Washington said he was reminded of trips to the hospital to visit his 5-year-old cousin who has struggled with a terminal enzyme disease since he was 15 months old. The business administration and sociology major realized he wanted to do something to help.
Sidelined with an injury and looking for a way to enhance Montana football and the image of the players, Washington believed the football season was the perfect time to launch an endeavor. The plan was to bring one family with a terminally ill child to each one of the Grizzlies’ home contests. Washington donated his player’s seats to each family and — thanks to field passes contributed by the university —they were able to meet other Montana players on the field before the game. Each family also received a gift bag from the university president’s office.
By season’s end the effort had brought eight families to the campus, including the one Washington met while shopping. Other families were identified through the Sacred Heart Pediatric Oncology Center in Spokane, Washington, and the Montana Hope Project, a nonprofit organization that grants wishes to critically ill children.
“When you see the smile on a child’s face and realize it’s the biggest thing in a kid’s life (to meet you), and you hear they haven’t smiled in six months or something but they smiled when we came running out of the tunnel, it means so much,” Washington said. “I want to make them feel like kids for one day and bring them out of the hospital.”
Washington plans to make the project an annual tradition for one of the team’s redshirt quarterbacks. He also plans to remain involved in the program even after he makes his return to the field.
Said Washington, “It made me value the gift that God gives you every day.”
The Freedom Forum/NCAA Sports Journalism Scholarship is a one-year award of $3,000 available to students entering their senior year of study and who are majoring in journalism, sports journalism or have campus sports journalism experience. The scholarship program is designed to foster freedoms of speech and press, while promoting quality sports journalism education at NCAA institutions. Since 1992, the Freedom Forum has awarded about 100 scholarships totaling more than $300,000.
The 2007-08 recipients of the Freedom Forum/NCAA Sports Journalism Scholarship are Tristan S. Aird, California Polytechnic State University; Katherine E. Carrera, Ohio University; Alexander D. Goldberger, Yale University; Whitney A. Harding, Southern Methodist University; Ashley R. Hicks, University of Southern California; Jonathan D. Hines, Indiana University, Bloomington; Joshua S. Robinson, Columbia University; and Lindsay R. Schnell, Oregon State University.
“The scholarships provide students with an opportunity to learn the strategies of sports writing and to practice the trade while in schools,” said Charles Overby, chair and chief executive officer of the Freedom Forum and a member of the NCAA Leadership Advisory Board.
The Freedom Forum is a nonpartisan, nonprofit foundation with offices in Arlington, Virginia, and at Vanderbilt University. The annual application deadline for the scholarship is December.
Montana player turns shopping into outreach
University of Montana football student-athlete Jason Washington came away with more than the items on his shopping list during a trip to Wal-Mart this past fall. He also emerged with a program to bring families with terminally ill children to Grizzlies’ home games throughout the season.Washington, a junior redshirt quarterback, was at the store when he was recognized by a family whose daughter had a terminal illness. As he and the family talked, Washington said he was reminded of trips to the hospital to visit his 5-year-old cousin who has struggled with a terminal enzyme disease since he was 15 months old. The business administration and sociology major realized he wanted to do something to help.
Sidelined with an injury and looking for a way to enhance Montana football and the image of the players, Washington believed the football season was the perfect time to launch an endeavor. The plan was to bring one family with a terminally ill child to each one of the Grizzlies’ home contests. Washington donated his player’s seats to each family and — thanks to field passes contributed by the university —they were able to meet other Montana players on the field before the game. Each family also received a gift bag from the university president’s office.
By season’s end the effort had brought eight families to the campus, including the one Washington met while shopping. Other families were identified through the Sacred Heart Pediatric Oncology Center in Spokane, Washington, and the Montana Hope Project, a nonprofit organization that grants wishes to critically ill children.
“When you see the smile on a child’s face and realize it’s the biggest thing in a kid’s life (to meet you), and you hear they haven’t smiled in six months or something but they smiled when we came running out of the tunnel, it means so much,” Washington said. “I want to make them feel like kids for one day and bring them out of the hospital.”
Washington plans to make the project an annual tradition for one of the team’s redshirt quarterbacks. He also plans to remain involved in the program even after he makes his return to the field.
Said Washington, “It made me value the gift that God gives you every day.”
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