Omaha Press Club Foundation to Award Scholarships

Sunday, March 15, 2015 - 7:00pm

Five students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s College of Journalism and Mass Communications will share in $11,500 in scholarships that the Omaha Press Club Foundation will award on April 24.

Brent BonFleur, a broadcasting major, was selected for a $1,500 Stan Bond Scholarship.  Describing himself as perhaps the only Florida Gator fan at University of Nebraska–Lincoln, BonFleur has interned for four summers at WFTV in Orlando, Florida. He also has reported for the Sheridan County Journal Star in Gordon, Nebraska, and for the Lincoln Journal Star, along with hosting sports talk programs for KRNU, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln student radio station, and doing production and engineering work for the station. BonFleur’s parents, Bruce and Marsha BonFleur, live in Whiteclay, Nebraska. 

Spanish and journalism major Vanessa Daves was selected for a $2,500 John F. Davis Scholarship. Daves, who is minoring in religious studies and women’s and gender studies, is currently a fellow at the Omaha World-Herald, has interned at the St. Joseph News-Press in St. Joseph, Missouri, and has reported for the arts & entertainment and sports desks at the Daily Nebraskan. She took first place honors in collegiate writing in the Nebraska Press Association. 2014 contest. Daves’ parents are Paty and Dede Daves of Hinsdale, Illinois.

Joseph Hoile, a broadcasting major who is minoring in business, will be presented with the $2,500 Panko-Roberts/President’s Memorial Scholarship. Hoile, a sophomore, works in the control room for Husker sports broadcasts on the KRNU student radio station. He also works part-time at the Lincoln-based Broadcast House, which serves several radio stations. Hoile is a son of Martha Livingston of Lincoln and Bill Hoile of Wayne, Nebraska.

Jane Ngo, an advertising and public relations major, will be awarded a $2,500 John F. Davis Scholarship. Ngo, who is interning in interactive design at Swanson Russell Associates in Lincoln, has worked in University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s student advertising agency, the Jacht Ad Lab, and has consistently made the Dean’s List in her time at the university. Ngo is a daughter of Hong Nguyen of South Sioux City, Nebraska.

Journalism major Madison Wurtele, a sophomore, was named for a $2,500 Paul N. Williams Scholarship. A staff writer for the Daily Nebraskan, Wurtele has served as a resident assistant at the Pound Residence Hall and as a University of Nebraska–Lincoln Student Ambassador. Her parents are Randy and Connie Wurtele of Nebraska City.

The foundation announced in November that they will honor two people closely tied to CoJMC. Larry Walklin, a professor at the College of Journalism and Mass Communications, will be presented with the 2015 Journalism Educator Award. Rose Ann Shannon, news director at KETV in Omaha and chair of the college’s professional advisory board, will be given the foundation’s 2015 Career Achievement Award.

The student scholarship winners will have a chance to visit with the award-winning journalist and educator at the presentation, which will feature a dinner at the Omaha Press Club in honor of them all.

L-R: Brent BonFleur, Vanessa Daves, Madison Wurtele, Joseph Hoile Not pictured: Jane Ngo
L-R: Brent BonFleur, Vanessa Daves, Madison Wurtele, Joseph Hoile Not pictured: Jane Ngo