By R. Preston Clark
Contributing Writer
On Friday night, a collection of current members, awards recipients and guests gathered at National University to celebrate the 11th San Diego Association of Black Journalists Scholarship Reception.
“In short, it’s giving away money,” said SDABJ Vice President DeJuan Hoggard, who was awarded the SDABJ Member of the Year Award, named after former SDABJ President Jerry McCormick. “That’s what it’s all about. I went to college, a lot of other journalism professionals went to college and it’s not cheap.”
SDABJ awarded high school and college students five scholarships. This year’s recipients included Dasia Dunn, Marshauna McGlothin, Aliya Bora, Amber McKinney and Fa’amasani Unutoa.
Dunn and McGlothin each received $1,500 towards their future college educations via the SDABJ High School Scholarship and Debra Stevens Scholarship, respectively. Dunn is headed to the University of California at Santa Barbara and McGlothin is the San Diego Unified School District’s student art exhibition winner the past two years as a photography major at the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts. Bora and McKinney were awarded the SDABJ Community College Scholarship and Ozzie Roberts Scholarships, respectively, as Bora looks to continue her studies via the Master’s Program at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and McKinney finishes her education studying journalism at San Diego State University.
Unutoa was the biggest winner of the evening as he was awarded a scholarship to National University’s Graduate School Program worth $50,000. Unutoa currently works at One America News Network but would like to get his Master’s degree so he can teach journalism on the collegiate level.
“To be able to consistently do this year after year,” Hoggard said, “this is the driving force behind SDABJ is that we can keep doing this and we’re going to keep doing this as long as the funds are coming in. That we’re able to support and put people through college, whether it be a full-ride or a partial ride, that’s what we enjoy doing.”
The guest speaker for the evening was veteran broadcast journalist Beverly White, an NBC-LA general assignment reporter since 1992. She provided the audience with anecdotes of her time as a reporter and words of wisdom to the young journalists in the room looking to do what she has already been doing for over 30 years.
One of White’s key messages in her address was to “represent as well as report.” She made sure that the future journalists understood their roles as minorities in the newsroom and how what they cover and how they cover it can influence how minorities are viewed both within the media and by those watching at home.
“Just being able to let them know that we’ve been through their shoes and we know what it’s like,” Hoggard said. “Here’s what you can expect and to have someone fully support you 100-percent, it’s why we do this. It’s why we enjoy doing this.”
