NAHJ Announces 2006 Scholarship Recipients; Association Awards More Than $375,000 to Latino Students

WASHINGTON, Sept. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Association of Hispanic Journalists awarded an unprecedented $378,500 in scholarships this fall to 47 students pursuing a career in journalism in the most competitive selection process in the association's history.

More than 200 students applied for the scholarships, which ranged from $2,000 to $13,600, nearly doubling the number of applications from just last year and demonstrating an increased awareness of NAHJ's educational programs. Scholarships offered annually through the organization's Ruben Salazar Scholarship Fund, in honor of a Latino journalism pioneer killed while covering an anti-war demonstration in Los Angeles in 1970, received a big boost this year with a $335,000 grant for scholarships from CNN in celebration of its 25th anniversary.

NAHJ is able to offer more scholarships annually thanks to generous personal donations from Geraldo Rivera, senior correspondent of the Fox News Channel and Maria Elena Salinas, co-anchor of Noticiero Univision and syndicated columnist, and grants from the Newhouse Corporation and The Washington Post.

Since the association established its scholarship and educational programs in the mid 1980s, NAHJ has provided financial assistance and/or training to more than 1,000 students to help boost the number of Latinos in newsrooms and create a path towards achieving more fair and accurate coverage of the Hispanic community.

"These scholarships are key to broadening the pipeline of young Latinos getting into journalism and entering the country's news media, so the more we can offer, the higher the chances of increasing our representation," said Ivan Roman, executive director of NAHJ. "We believe this year's students demonstrate the talent, dedication and promise of that mission. And with the money raised by our members, our sponsors and our donors, we're able to reach these goals together."

Students awarded scholarships this year hail from 40 colleges in 19 states, including California, Nevada, Texas, New Mexico, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Oregon and Idaho. Twenty-five freshmen, sophomores and juniors were selected to be the CNN 25 Scholars and will each receive between $10,000 and $13,600 over the course of the rest of their journalism studies supported by the $335,000 grant from CNN.

Other scholarships ranged between $2,000 and $10,000 over a one- to three- year period for print or broadcast journalism students working in English and/or Spanish. In addition, NAHJ also paid $17,500 this fall to several students who were continuing scholarships from previous years.

NAHJ is pleased to announce the 2006 scholarship recipients:

Ruben Salazar Scholarships (one time, $2,000 scholarships, open to any journalism student)

  Natalie Avitua, St. Mary's University, San Antonio, Texas
  Jackeline da Silva, University of Oregon
  Marisol Espino, University of California, Santa Barbara
  Veronica Villa, New Mexico State University
  Noelia Santos, University of Texas at San Antonio
  Vida Volkert, Florida State University
  Marisol Leon, Yale College
  Nancy Moya, New Mexico State University
  Aracely Cardona, California State University, Fullerton
  Joshua Sanchez, University of Colorado at Boulder
  Jaime Zea, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  Taylor Bustamante, University of California, Berkeley

Maria Elena Salinas Scholarship (one time, $5,000 scholarships for students pursuing careers in Spanish-language broadcast journalism)

  Jackeline Guzman, California State University, Northridge
  Elizabeth Landa, Central Arizona College, Coolidge, Arizona

Geraldo Rivera Scholarship (one time, $5,000 scholarship for seniors or graduate students)

Cristina Romento, Washington State University

The Washington Post Scholarship (one time, $2,500 scholarship for incoming freshman)

Cristian Hernandez, Boston University

Newhouse Scholarships (two two-year scholarships totaling $10,000; two one-time $2,500 scholarships for students pursuing careers in English-language print journalism)

  Erika Usui, University of Colorado at Boulder
  Jessica Mullins, University of Idaho
  Oscar Melendrez, Northwestern University
  Rosa Rodriguez, University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, Texas

Newsroom Bound Scholarship (three-year scholarships part of the Ruben Salazar Scholarship Fund, totaling $4,000 each for any journalism student, combined with internship training)

Jackeline Ramirez, Central Piedmont Community College, Charlotte, North Carolina

  Patricia Linares, University of Miami
  Melissa Rodriguez, Lehman College, Bronx, New York

CNN 25 Scholars (two-, three-, or four-year scholarships each totaling between $10,000 and $13,600, open to any journalism student)

  Yesenia Flores, University of California at Santa Barbara
  Melody Sanchez, Collins College, Tempe, Arizona
  Cristian Hernandez, Boston University
  Julia Lopez, Colorado State University
  Samantha Ruiz, University of Texas at Austin
  Mariellyssa Wenk, Bryn Mawr College
  Robert Gutierrez, Westmont College, Santa Barbara, California
  America Arias, California State University, Fullerton
  Pamela Acosta, University of Arkansas
  Jesus Ledezma, Arizona State University
  Arash Mosaleh, University of Nevada, Reno
  Gina Sandoval, University of La Verne, La Verne, California
  Rafael Carranza, Arizona State University
  Betsy Avelar, Gavilan College, Gilroy, California
  John Ochoa, University of Southern California
  Miguel Carvente, University of California, Los Angeles
  Javier Hernandez, Harvard College
  Rosalinda Mota, Penn State University
  Angela Simental, New Mexico State University
  William Bans, San Diego State University
  Denise Martinez, New York University
  Claudia Pech, Union College, Lincoln, Nebraska
  Liseth Cazares, University of California, Davis
  Nicole Quinones, San Diego State University
  Jose Vargas, Northwestern State University, Natchitoches, Louisiana