On Wednesday, March 12, 2008, the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA) will present its third Leroy F. Aarons Scholarship Award at Headlines & Headliners: NLGJA's 13th Annual New York Benefit, to be held at The New York Times new TimesCenter.
The 2008 award recipient is Matthew Leung, a third-year student at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N Y.
Leung is a technology columnist for Vassar's Miscellany News and the founder/editor-in-chief of the print and online lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) magazine Outlet. A first-generation American and college student (Leung was born in Hong Kong and emigrated to the United States at the age of 10), he is currently pursuing a double major in Philosophy and Chinese.
Leung is a student member of NLGJA and was the sole student online producer for the 2007 National Convention Student Project.
In support of Leung's application, Paul Russell — professor of English at Vassar and faculty adviser of Outlet — wrote, "I have witnessed Matt's capacity for hard work and self-sacrifice, his admirable skills at managing contributors and editors [and] his own deeply professional work on the magazine. I have never seen a student show so much initiative or have as much discipline, energy and follow-through as Matt does."
"I believe that through journalism I can exercise objectivity and fairness, values that unite and can make a difference in our fragmented world," said Leung. "People with differences can better sympathize with one another if they see the big picture."
"Matt exemplifies the future of journalism. He is entrepreneurial and innovative, yet retains a commitment to the importance of accuracy, fairness and objectivity as a journalist. I know Roy Aarons would be a big fan of Matthew and it is an honor to present him with this scholarship," said NLGJA Executive Director David Barre .
Named in memory of NLGJA's founder, the $5,000 award was established to support the education of an LGBT student who plans a career in journalism and is committed to furthering NLGJA's mission of fair and accurate coverage of the LGBT community. The fund is administered through a partnership between NLGJA and The Delaware Valley Legacy Fund (DVLF, an LGBT community foundation affiliated with The Philadelphia Foundation), which serves to advance philanthropy within the LGBT community. In 2005, CNN contributed a $100,000 gift to support the scholarship award.
Headlines & Headliners will be emceed by Meredith Vieira, co-host of NBC's TODAY Show and hosted by Bill Keller, executive editor of The New York Times. Keller and Vieira will be just two of a number of special guests joining NLGJA members, friends and supporters at The TimesCenter. A full listing of the evening's headliners can be found by clicking here.
Barre; Thomas Cashman Avila, Deputy Executive Director of NLGJA; and Bill Canacci, Home News Tribune and Leroy F. Aarons Journalism Education Program Chair, oversaw a selection process that included judges Edward Alwood, Quinnipiac University; Mary Cardaras, The New England Institute of Art; Dane Claussen, Point Park University; Joe Cutbirth, Columbia University; Marshall McPeek, WCMH-TV; Walt Swanston, National Public Radio; and members of the DVLF board of directors.
Headlines & Headliners will begin at 7:00 PM with a reception and silent auction. The evening will continue at 9:00 PM with a VIP dinner with the evening's special guests. Click here for ticket sales and further info rmation.
NLGJA is an organization of journalists, media professionals, educators and students who work within the news industry to foster fair and accurate coverage of LGBT issues. NLGJA opposes all forms of workplace bias and provides professional development to its members.
Headlines & Headliners: NLGJA's 13th Annual New York Benefit is sponsored by the evening's host, The New York Times, as well as NBC Universal, CNN, JetBlue Airways, Kimpton, News Corporation, Sara Lee, Tanqueray Rangpur, Amtrak, Beaulieu Vineyard, Bloomberg, CBS News, InStyle Magazine, Rubenstein, Time Inc., Andrew Tobias & Charles Nolan, AFTRA, Fox News Network, Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, Next Magazine, Star Group/ Steve Rosen , Toyota Motor Sales USA, Inc., Nike Communications, N.S. Bienstock and Widmeyer Communications.
Click here for Headlines & Headliners ticket sales and further info rmation.
