College of Journalism and Mass Communications student scholarship awardees and their donors were recognized at the fourth annual Scholarship Recognition Brunch at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's City Campus Union on Sept. 27, 2025.
The brunch kicked off with informal networking, during which donors had the opportunity to meet the recipients of their scholarships.
Following Dean Veil's welcome, Associate Professor Rick Alloway invited donors forward to accept a certificate of appreciation and take a photo with their scholarship recipient(s). Students received a certificate listing their scholarship award(s) and were also recognized at this time.
After recognizing this year's donors and student recipients, Alloway recognized donors who established scholarship funds within the last year. The four recently established funds were: the David Fitzgibbon "Fitz" Memorial Scholarship Fund, the Dr. Wilma Crumley Legacy Fellowship, the Greg Sharpe Sports Broadcasting Scholarship Fund and the May Family Fund (not pictured).
This year's donor speaker was Kevin Warneke, a native Nebraskan who earned his bachelor's degree in journalism and doctoral leadership degree from UNL.
Warneke has been around journalism his entire life, as his father, Lee, published the weekly Plainview News for 40 years and his brother, Kent, served as editor of the Norfolk Daily News for 30 years.
His father taught him the fine line between a journalist's role as an advocate for their community and still reporting on the tough things happening inside it.
Warneke started his career as a reporter for the Omaha World-Herald before pivoting to fundraising and nonprofit administration as the CEO of the Ronald McDonald House Charities in Omaha.
He now serves as an executive vice president for Omaha-based Steier Group. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, teaching journalism, speech and fundraising courses.
When he first started in the fundraising world, reflecting on his time as a journalist put things into perspective. Now, instead of asking people difficult questions for a story, he's asking people to support an important cause.
"I look back to my days in journalism and the life lessons that I learned—I've carried them with me for forty years, even though I'm not practicing journalism anymore," Warneke said. "One is how to make that ask, two is to be accurate and three is to hit deadlines."
A former CoJMC Dean established the Warneke Family Scholarship to honor Warneke's father, and some years after its establishment, he and his brother, Kent, decided to start providing additional support for the scholarship.
"You all are going to do great things in life, and at some point, when you get to that position, when you've taken care of your bills and are well-established, think about giving back," Warneke said. "I don't know what journalism and mass communications will look like in ten or fifty years, but we need it and students need that support."
This year's Warneke Family Scholarship recipient is junior broadcasting and journalism double major Jacqueline Ruiz-Rodriguez of Grand Island. She spoke about how scholarship support has enabled her to focus on her college studies rather than financial stress and about the sacrifices her parents made to give her and her siblings opportunities they never had.
"Every day I make it a goal to better myself for my parents who've shaped the person I am, for the community I hope to one day serve and for myself, who's learning to make mistakes and navigate life away from home," Ruiz-Rodriguez said.
Alloway closed the brunch, thanking students and donors for attending and reaffirming the importance of giving to ensure every student who wants a college education has the opportunity to attend the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
See the livestream of the 2025 Scholarship Recognition Brunch: https://www.youtube.com/live/lsFcHHdSIN4?si=PFx9mc0I7Id5MdHx
For information on giving to the college, contact Director of Development Jeremy Lohrman at jeremy.lohrman@nufoundation.org or 402-458-1177.
