Six students from the School of Fashion Design and Merchandising have each been awarded $5,000 scholarships from the Young Menswear Association.

Students receiving the scholarships are: junior fashion design majors Brittney Baumgardner, Britini Brocker and Alyse Kimble; and junior fashion merchandising majors Lauren Demirjian, Nora O’Shaughnessy and Lauren Zajac.

“I am on loans, so this helps tremendously for paying off tuition,” Zajac said.

The money from the scholarship goes directly into her bursars account, Zajac said. She also said about six companies have already contacted her about potential internships.

The criterion for the nonrenewable scholarship require student recipients be junior fashion design or merchandising majors with at least a 3.0 grade point average. They had to be nominated by a faculty member from the fashion school and demonstrate financial need.

The association pairs recipients with mentors in the fashion industry and gives them access to internships. The YMA also provides networking opportunities for scholarship recipients and will help students in the industry, said William Hauck, assistant professor at the fashion school.

“This seems to be an organization that is interested in helping students become successful,” he said.

Hauck said having so many students receive the scholarship was an honor for the school, as it gives it credibility and shows its presence in the New York fashion industry.

“We are incredibly proud of them,” he said. “We are happy for them more than anything.”

All of the scholarship recipients will be honored by the YMA at a banquet in New York in January 2008.

Contact fashion reporter Kristen Kotz at [email protected].