The School of Media and Public Affairs hosted the Annual SMPA Awards Night honoring students and awarding $124,000 in prizes on April 27. The event featured remarks from CNN Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash (BA '93) and professors, students, members of the SMPA National Council, and friends of SMPA were on hand to celebrate outstanding SMPA students.
SMPA Awards Committee chair Steven V. Roberts hosted the event with director Frank Sesno. Members of the faculty and former professor Michael Freedman also presented student awards.
GW-White House Correspondents' Association Scholarship
2017 Winner: Teniola Ayoola
SMPA CAN Internship Fund
2017 Winners: Carley Berlin, Steven Kelly
The SMPA Career Access Network Internship Fund permits SMPA undergraduates to pursue and benefit from enriching summer internship experiences that they otherwise might not be able to afford. The fund is awarded in the spring to rising SMPA seniors and graduate students. It supports an internship experience in the summer. Recipients are selected for demonstrated merit, professional promise and need.
Essary Prize
2017 Winners: Andrew Desiderio, Andrew Goudsward
SMPA's oldest prize, created in 1948 to honor the memory of Jesse Frederick Essary, the award is for "a student who has given promise of sound citizenship and ability in 'forthright reporting'." This prize is open to all SMPA students and awarded based on published news articles.
Freedman Family Scholarship
2017 Winner: Lillianna Byington
An endowed award from Michael Freedman, a former vice president of GW and SMPA professor, who is also the father of an SMPA graduate. Preference for this award is given to freshmen, sophomore and junior students with financial need who want to become a professional journalist.
Philip L. Graham Fund Scholarship for Diversity
2017 Winner: Sophie Ota
Named for the late publisher of The Washington Post, these awards give preference to students from underrepresented groups including, but not limited to, women and individuals of diverse backgrounds.
Gridiron Foundation Scholarships
2017 Winners: Devan Cole, Ashley Le, Lauryn Hill, Felicia Kalkman, Koralie Barrau, Selam Berhea
Created in 1975 by the Gridiron, a long-standing organization of Washington-based journalists. All freshmen, sophomore and junior majors are eligible to apply for these merit-based awards, but financial need and minority status is considered.
Sherman Page Allen Scholarships
2017 Winners: Justine Coleman, Bailey Dukes, Arianna Dunham, Jonathan Kandell, James Levinson, Caroline Rexrode, Daniel Rich, Savannah Shepard, Eleanor Smith
Open to all freshmen, sophomore and juniors majors who display a passion for journalism, the scholarships were endowed in 1966 through a bequest from the estate of Violet B. Robinson.
Dorothy and Will Roberts Prize
2017 Winners: Andrew Desiderio, Scott Nover, Elissa Nunez
Honorable Mentions: Rachel Faulkner, Martin McSherry, Jenna Spoont
Created by Professor Steven Roberts in the name of his parents, this prize is awarded to graduating seniors who have demonstrated academic achievement, professional promise and community service.
Eaton Foundation Scholarship
2017 Winners: Simone Jackenthal, Gabriella Morrone
This merit-based scholarship provides support for SMPA seniors in the combined degree program.
Eaton Service Award
2017 Winners: Tatiana Given, Scott Nover
Hoberman Prize
2017 Winner: Robin Eberhardt
Created by the family of a recent graduate, this a merit-based award is open to all SMPA students who have produced original and meaningful journalism. That work can take any form — print, video, audio, photography or a combination of multimedia platforms. The prize will honor reporting that demonstrates depth, originality and a connection to either local or global community.
Larry King Scholarships
2017 Winners: Emily Creighton, Andrew Goudsward, Annabel Gutterman, Emily Harrison, William Lennon, Alec Snyder
Created by the former CNN personality who never attended college, the scholarship is awarded to rising seniors with demonstrated financial need and superior academic records.
Manheim-Sterling Undergraduate Research Prize
2017 Winners: Danielle Cohen, Zoe Spielvogel
Named in honor of two legendary SMPA faculty members, the Manheim-Sterling Undergraduate Research Prizes are designed to support and encourage outstanding mentored undergraduate research and creative activity in the School of Media and Public Affairs. The School awards two prizes each academic year, one for a political communication major and one for a journalism/mass communication major.
Schneider-Taylor Scholarship
2017 Winner: Sophie Kaplan
Established by the parents of a recent graduate, the scholarship provides need-based aid to a freshman, sophomore or junior in SMPA.
J. Michael Shanahan Internship Fund
2017 Winner: Alec Snyder
Created in the memory of beloved SMPA faculty member J. Michael Shanahan, the prize is awarded to rising JMC seniors to fund unpaid summer internships at established media organizations.
Kwittken Internship Award
2017 Winners: Emily Creighton, Annabel Gutterman, Sophie Ota
Part of SMPA Career Access Network, this award supports undergraduate and graduate students in the field of media and strategic communication with support for unpaid or low-paid summer internships.