Five University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Journalism and Mass Communications students will receive scholarships from the Omaha Press Club for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Junior broadcasting and Spanish major Evelyn Mejia will receive the Paul N. Williams Scholarship. The scholarship recognizes Paul N. Williams, a dedicated journalist. His 27 years as a newspaperman culminated in a share of the first Pulitzer Prize ever awarded to a weekly newspaper, Omaha’s Sun Newspapers.
Junior advertising and public relations and sports media and communications major Gavin Struve will receive the John Davis Scholarship. In 1974, the Davis scholarship was established in honor of First National Bank executive John F. Davis, who helped establish the Omaha Press Club atop the bank building at 16th and Dodge streets.
Junior journalism and broadcasting major Jolie Peal will receive the Stan Bond Scholarship. Stan Bond was KETV’s first field engineer, pioneering live broadcasting from remote story locations for the newsroom in which he was a full newsgathering participant. A past president of the Omaha Press Club and trustee of the Omaha Press Club Foundation, Bond received the Distinguished Club Member Award in 2001.
Senior journalism and English major Emma Krab will receive the Panko-Roberts/President’s Memorial Scholarship. It is the oldest Omaha Press Club scholarship and was first presented in 1957 in memory of Omaha World-Herald reporter Walter Panko. More than a decade later, the name of KMTV News Director Jim Roberts was added, and the award now honors all past presidents of the Omaha Press Club and Omaha Press Club Foundation.
Junior advertising and public relations and graphic design major Valeria Uribe will receive the Judy Horan Scholarship. Judy Horan was a freelance writer, public relations and marketing professional who during her life made tremendous contributions to the Omaha Press Club. Upon Judy’s death in 2017 at age 74, her friends and husband, Jim, raised money to create a scholarship that goes to a promising student of public relations or marketing.
These scholarship winners along with former Nebraska Press Association head Allen Beermann and Creighton faculty member Tim Guthrie were honored at the Omaha Press Club Foundation brunch on Saturday, April 23.
At the brunch, Uribe thanked the Omaha Press Club on behalf of CoJMC’s scholarship winners.
“Receiving this scholarship not only relieves my financial burden, it also provides the motivation for me to continue studying and working hard,” Uribe said. “Having professionals in the industry continuously show their support helps me find ways to make a bigger impact in our community.”
The College of Journalism and Mass Communication’s Omaha Press Club Scholarship selection committee members were professor Maria Marron, professor of practice Matt Waite and assistant professor Jessica Walsh.
For more than half a century, the Omaha Press Club and Omaha Press Club Foundation have awarded journalism scholarships to the most deserving students at Creighton University, the University of Nebraska at Omaha and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.