The College Sports Communicators (CSC) announced on Thursday, May 30, that Nebraska Athletic Communications student-assistant and College of Journalism and Mass Communications May 2024 graduate Paige Trutna was selected as the 2024-25 Langston Rogers Postgraduate Scholarship winner.
The Langston Rogers Postgraduate Scholarship is named in honor of former College Sports Communicators President, Hall of Famer, Mary Jo Haverbeck Trailblazer and Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Langston Rogers, who served as the sports information director at Ole Miss from 1981 until his retirement in 2010. The Langston Rogers Postgraduate Scholarship is designed to assist a rising minority or female student working in athletics communications offices who have expressed an interest in pursuing a career in athletics communications and require financial assistance for their education.
Trutna, who majored in journalism and sports media and communications, has demonstrated her commitment to the field through her work as a student-assistant for the Huskers. For three seasons, she served as the primary communications contact for the Nebraska rifle program, then became the communications contact for the Nebraska women's gymnastics team in 2024.
"Working as the main contact for rifle and women's gymnastics has been the way that I've grown and learned in my career," Trutna said. "My bosses and peers did a great job of teaching me and mentoring me in how to be a sports information director (SID), but working as a main contact forced me to actually do it, instead of just observing."
Trutna, a Lincoln Lutheran High School graduate, plans to utilize the $6,000 award to further her education and serve as a graduate student in the Nebraska Athletic Communications Office while pursuing a master's degree in integrated media communications at the CoJMC.
"I've found working in athletic communications to be a dream job, especially at Nebraska, since I grew up here," Trutna said. "My goal is to work my way up and work as a main contact for a lot of different sports, so I can learn as much as possible."
Trutna is the most recent winner in an impressive line of Nebraska postgraduate and undergraduate scholarship recipients in the history of the CSC Scholarship Program. The Nebraska Athletic Communications Office has claimed a nation-leading eight combined postgraduate (5), undergraduate (2) and member-child scholarships (1).
"I plan to work at Nebraska for as long as I can," Trutna said. "I've seen firsthand the kind of impact a great SID can have on their coworkers, along with the players and coaches of the sports they work with, and I want to have that impact."
About the College Sports Communicators Scholarship Program
The CSC Postgraduate awards date to 1981, while the undergraduate scholarship program began in 1999. Since 1981, students from more than 100 colleges and universities across all divisions have earned scholarships from CSC, including postgraduate scholarship winners from 58 schools and undergraduate scholarship recipients from 43 institutions.
In 2014, CSC added a Member-Child Scholarship to further support the activities of its membership. The program has awarded 22 children of full-time CSC members with $1,000 scholarships renewable up to four years. Nebraska Athletic Communications also has claimed one of those prestigious awards based on the academic performance of each student applicant. Learn more here
