Students in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication have been granted various awards for outstanding journalistic, public relations and photo work this semester.

Six students received scholarships from the Akron Press Club, six students received recognition in the Ohio News Photographer’s Association Pictures of the Year competition and PRSSA’s Gold Team received an Honorable Mention at the Bateman Competition.

The Akron Press Club awarded the Knight Scholarship to four Kent State journalism students this year. The recipients this year are senior news major Madeleine Winer, junior news majors Celia Fernandez and Carley Hull, and sophomore journalism major Emily Mills.

“I applied on a whim,” Fernandez said. “Then I got this email saying I got it, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh!’ I didn’t think I would get it.”

The Knight Scholarship is awarded in memory of Akron Beacon Journal editor John S. Knight. Each winner will receive a $5,000 scholarship, a $2,000 increase from previous years.

With the Knight Scholarship, the Press Club Scholarship was also awarded. Lyndsey Schley, junior news major, received the $5,000 scholarship.

“It felt great [to get the scholarship],” Schley said. “I’ve worked really hard to keep up a high GPA, and it’s good to see something come out of that. I know eventually something good is supposed come out of it if you work hard in school, but it’s cool to see something happen now.”

The Press Club awarded the Ludel Sauvageot scholarship, also worth $5,000, to Meghan Caprez, senior public relations major. This is the only public relations scholarship offered from the Akron Press Club.

Caprez said she highly recommends students to apply for the Press Club scholarships.

“It’s a great opportunity to showcase your work and get your name out there in the journalism community in Akron and get a little something out of it, too,” Caprez said.

The winners will receive their respectful scholarships at a luncheon to be held Friday, April 25.

The Ohio News Photographer Association, or ONPA, held its Pictures of the Year in Franklin Hall Friday, April 11, through Sunday, April 13, where various awards were given to Kent State’s photographers.

Junior visual journalism major, Jenna Watson, received first place for the Larry Fullerton Photojournalism Scholarship and will receive $3,000 as a part of this award. Watson also won an Award of Excellence in the Sports Feature category. Another junior visual journalism major, Jacob Byk, received the James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award.

Other Awards of Excellence were given to 2013 graduates Shane Flanigan in Product Illustration and Coty Giannelli in News Picture Story. Freshman photojournalism major Andrea Noall also received an Award of Excellence for her work in the Pictorial category.

“When I saw [the photo] in the top seven I was so excited,” Noall said. “It just made me want to do it again next year and be even better and work harder.”

Noall said it was a great learning experience and encourages other photographers to enter their work.

The Bateman Competition for PRSSA students released the first phase of judging results, which awarded Kent State’s Gold Team an Honorable Mention. Of the 51 entries, only three teams made it to the next phase of judging and 14 teams received Honorable Mentions.

Contact Heather Inglis at [email protected].