National Press Club

Club Scholarship Team seeks judges

Holly Butcher Grant

January 28, 2024

The National Press Club Scholarship Team is seeking volunteers in March to help judge applications for the first round of 2024 NPC scholarships.

Judging is planned for three virtual two-hour sessions starting on March 9. Participants will have the chance to review application materials the week prior to the first meeting. The second and third sessions will take place on March 16 and March 23.

Volunteer judges commit to:

  • Independently reviewing five to 10 applications the week ahead of the team meeting.
  • Participating in a two-hour Zoom meeting with other judges to name the recipient. Meetings are scheduled for: 
    • 10 am to noon, Saturday, March 9: Scholarship for Journalism Diversity Honoring Julie Schoo
    • 10 am to noon, Saturday, March 16: Richard G. Zimmerman Scholarship
    • 10 am to noon, Saturday, March 23: Wes Vernon Broadcast Scholarship

Scholarships being awarded in March are:

  • The Scholarship for Journalism Diversity Honoring Julie Schoo, awarded to a high school senior. The purpose of the scholarship is to recruit future journalists who will bring diversity to American journalism. 
  • The Richard G. Zimmerman Scholarship supports a high school senior who wishes to pursue journalism.
  • The Wes Vernon Broadcast Scholarship, supporting diversity within the field of broadcast journalism. 

Scholarship judges will be acknowledged in the Wire and in NPC Journalism Institute publications.

If you'd like to be a judge, contact Scholarship Team co-chairs Erin Looney ([email protected]) and Caitlin Mullaney ([email protected]) to volunteer. Please state which scholarship you’d like to judge. Some awards, including the Schoo, Vernon, and Lewis awards, require diversity among the judging panel.

The Scholarship Team also needs judges for two April sessions to select recipients for the Lewis Scholarship (deadline: April 7) and the Dennis and Shirley Feldman Fellowship (deadline: April 14).

National Press Club scholarships are administered by its nonprofit affiliate, the National Press Club Journalism Institute. Click here to learn more. Applications are open through Feb. 18, so please share the opportunities with the student journalists in your life.