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16 June 2006 Longwood student receives one of two college journalism scholarships from state chapter of Society of Professional Journalists
Naomi Pearson, a rising Longwood University senior, is one of two Virginia college students awarded a scholarship recently from the Society of Professional Journalists-Virginia Pro Chapter. The $2,000 scholarship was presented at the Society's 43rd annual George Mason Award Banquet on June 14 at the production facility of the Richmond Times-Dispatch in Hanover County. The scholarship, established in 1971, is for worthy college journalists who plan to pursue a career in journalism. Pearson, a non-traditional student majoring in English and minoring in Spanish, is interested in a career in copy editing. She is copy editor of The Rotunda, the student newspaper, and a member of Lambda Iota Tau and Sigma Delta Pi, national honor societies in literature and Spanish, respectively. Pearson, who grew up in Sussex County, Va., and lives now in Philadelphia, recently finished her second year at Longwood.
She was accompanied at the awards banquet by her mother, Karen Pearson, and a lifelong friend, Libby Basham of Bumpass, Va., who she calls her "God-aunt." The banquet was emceed by former NBC reporter Lloyd Dobyns. The Society of Professional Journalists promotes high standards and ethical practice of journalism, freedom of information, legal defense of reporters, journalism education and newsroom diversity. This summer Pearson will take a seminar, Liberty & Current Issues, sponsored by the Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University. The seminar, for those interested in public policy or journalism, will be held July 22-28 at the Catholic University of America, in Washington, D.C. Also at the banquet, Ken Woodley, editor of The Farmville Herald, was honored with the 2006 George Mason Award that "recognizes journalists who make lasting contributions to civic journalism and freedom of the press." Woodley's wife, Kim Staples Woodley, is a 1981 Longwood graduate. |
