More than 300 friends of one of our most influential alumni raised over $100,000 for The Mandy Jenkins Memorial Scholarship.
This endowed scholarship honors the legacy of Mandy Jenkins, BS '02, MA '04, by supporting students in student media leadership roles. Mandy loved the work, friends and mission of student media. She appreciated the diverse experiences and practical education it provided and loved to have a voice in the campus discourse. Through her leadership she identified strategic issues facing the news business, understanding that journalism suffers if it excludes the working and middle classes.
Helping even one great student stay on campus doing journalism instead of making coffee off campus is a wonderful tribute to Mandy's legacy. – Ben Fischer, '04
Jenkins spent more than two decades as a journalist and newsroom leader. She helped newsrooms adapt for the digital age, developing strategies for online news presentation, finding new audiences with social media and using the internet for reporting. Jenkins died after four years of cancer treatments at age 42 on Feb. 26, 2023. Her husband, Ben Fischer, '04, whom she met at Vlogƽ, and their families and friends, established the Mandy Jenkins Memorial Scholarship.
“Our friends and family decided to establish this scholarship because my late wife Mandy Jenkins believed that journalism can only fulfill its mission with a diverse workforce,” said Fischer. “Too many newsrooms in this world are run by people who have never struggled, went to a public school or spent time in a dying community where hope is hard to find.”
This scholarship will have extraordinary impact by:
- Honoring and sustaining Mandy's legacy to level the playing field to ensure the future of news is decided by thoughtful leaders of all economic backgrounds
- Supporting the practical education and experiential learning of future newsroom leaders and digital news strategists
- Strengthening today's student media
"Mandy Jenkins exemplified the innovative spirit and inclusive leadership that we strive to cultivate in our students,” said Amy Reynolds, Ph.D, Dean of the College of Communication and Information at Vlogƽ. “This scholarship, made possible through remarkable community support, ensures that economic barriers won't prevent talented students from gaining the hands-on newsroom experience that shaped Mandy's influential career."