The Maneater Scholarship Information

Information

December 1: Applications and fliers announcing the $1,000 scholarship will be posted.

February 24: Applications must be received by Becky Diehl, adviser by 4:00 pm

April 16: Applicant will be notified of the results of the selection committee.

Criteria:

1. Applicants must have been employed by The Maneater newspaper for one semester.
2. The applicant must have at least a 2.0 GPA. The applicant must submit all of the required documents (listed below) to Becky Diehl, G216 MU Student Center by 4:00 p.m. on February 24th:
   • Application form
   • Samples of work
   • 500 word essay
   • Letter of recommendation
3. Scholarship will be credited to the recipients University account for the Fall 2012 semester. Seniors graduating in May are not eligible.

To apply: Complete the application and send it to Becky Diehl (address listed above).

Testimonials

• Justin Myers

Justin Myers

I'm working in Arlington, Va., for the PBS NewsHour developing Web and mobile news applications.

I worked at The Maneater for three years, including five semesters on the editorial board. Spending so much time in the newsroom while also working on two degrees (journalism and electrical engineering) didn't leave a lot of time for outside work, so the scholarship certainly helped offset the financial burden of attending MU.

Working at The Maneater gave me the chance to learn a great deal about journalism before I was allowed to take any of the staff classes in the J school, and I was able to try a little of everything instead of being confined to just one main beat for a semester. The Maneater also is where I first got involved in Web development, which has helped me learn the skills I'll be using daily at the NewsHour. I also met plenty of people with whom I still collaborate and keep in contact. While I'm glad to be going other places and do other things, my time at The Maneater definitely helped me figure out where I want to be in the field of journalism and gain the skills to get there.

• Kirstin Shew

Kirstin Shew

I moved back to Chicago after graduation last May and I am a regional account executive for L2T Media. I started on the pay per click team in May and moved to sales in January.

I worked at the Maneater starting as an advertising representative in 2007 until 2009. I then became the sales manager my senior year, 2009-2010.

The scholarship money came at a great time for me because my dad had just lost his job and I took on more financial responsibilities.

• Angela Case

Angela Case

I worked for The Maneater as a staff writer and occasional online assistant for two years, until I moved on to Journalism 4804-Convergence Reporting. J4804 is one of the toughest classes in the journalism school, but my time with the Maneater made it easier. The paper gave me experience tracking down sources and rewriting stories until they were perfect, and this knowledge came in handy as I reported for the Missourian, KBIA, and Newsy.com. The reporting this semester is brutal, but after that, it gets better.

In my case, it got much better. I'm currently living, playing and studying 9,000 miles from home in Sydney, Australia. I'm an editorial intern for Australian Geographic Outdoor magazine, where I get to write about amazing people doing amazing things all over Australia and the world.

I could not have done any of this without my experience with The Maneater. Working for the paper gave me fundamental experience in journalism, and the scholarship helped cover the cost of study abroad tuition, bringing me one step closer to living the dream.

• Allison Prang

Allison Prang

Saying The Maneater newsroom is my home away from home, barely does this institution justice, and I could not be more honored to be the fourth recipient of the scholarship this student newspaper offers. My parents' calls to me are usually full of questions like, "Yes, I know you love the newsroom, but how is school?" And while school is always good, I have learned more at The Maneater than anywhere about what I want to do. I could not have asked for a better staff to serve as my college family and my circle of student mentors and friends. I was looking for a place and school where I could truly eat, sleep and breathe journalism--I found that here. The generous scholarship was used toward my general tuition costs here at MU.

• Nate Atkins

Nate Atkins

It's a little ironic that I type this paragraph from a Maneater computer, even though I no longer work here, but that is what this newsroom has come to offer me: a place to learn, work, laugh, and sometimes even live. My experiences at The Maneater the last two years have been irreplaceable, from working as a sports beat reporter to taking editorial board positions at the copy and sports desks. The staffers, editors, and sources I have met along the way have made the experience, and I could not be more honored to share The Maneater’s fifth scholarship with the great Lizzie Johnson. This scholarship will go to pay off my general tuition.

• Lizzie Johnson

Lizzie Johnson

To say that I live at The Maneater is an understatement. I have spent hours in the office giving edits, receiving edits, designing and — let's be honest — even sleeping. I am so grateful and honored to be awarded this year's scholarship. This newsroom has given me a comfortable environment to grow as a writer in addition to experimenting with different journalism outlets, like photography and design. While my journalism classes have taught me technical knowledge pertinent to my field, my time at The Maneater has taught me so much through hands-on experience. The people I have met, interviewed, and worked with have shaped my freshman year. The scholarship will be put to good use for tuition costs.

   

History

For many years, Maneater advisers hoped to create a scholarship to reward dedicated staffers for their hard work. The idea started to become a reality during The Maneater's 50th anniversary celebration in 2005, at which alumni started giving to a fund via an auction. Throughout the next three years, alumni continued to donate, and in 2008 an alumni committee of former editors and advisers convened to create guidelines for the scholarship. The committee awarded the first annual prize of $500 to Justin Myers in the spring of that year. Each spring, the four-person committee judges applicants and selects a recipient.

Donate

Any donations to the Maneater Scholarship Fund are greatly appreciated. Since 2008, a committee of alumni has awarded a $500 scholarship annually. In 2012, the committee would like to award a $1000 scholarship. The scholarship committee would also like to gradually increase the award amount given to selected recipients, with the ultimate goal of a full-year's tuition by 2020. To do this, we need your help. Donations can be directed to MU's Giving to Mizzou page. Please select "Other" when prompted and specify "Maneater Scholarship" in the comment box.

Press Release

MANEATER AWARDS TWO $1,000 SCHOLARSHIPS TO OUTSTANDING STUDENT JOURNALISTS

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Breaking with tradition, The Maneater scholarship committee has decided to award two $1,000 prizes to staff members at the University of Missouri’s official student newspaper.

Sophomore Nate Atkins and freshman Lizzie Johnson each will receive the money for fall semester 2012. Historically, the committee, comprised of four Maneater alumni, has awarded one $500 award each year. The committee previously decided to increase the scholarship amount, and after judging a record-breaking number of applications, decided both Atkins and Johnson should receive accolades.

Atkins—a journalism major, The Maneater’s current sports editor and the recent recipient of the Missouri College Media Association (MCMA)’s first-place award for sports writing—has worked at the paper since 2010. In his application essay, he called The Maneater his campus “home.”

Scholarship committee member Derek Kravitz, a national economics writer for The Associated Press and former Maneater managing editor, said Atkins is "one of the most dedicated, hardest working staffers this committee has ever seen."

"His love of the newspaper is clear in everything he does: Nate helped organize the paper’s coverage of the recovery efforts following the deadly tornado last May in Joplin. He spent two months writing a superb profile of an injured Missouri football player, which bigger competitors took immediate notice of," Kravitz said. "Nate simply understands the importance of The Maneater’s 57-year history and he embodies the best, selfless attributes of its hard-working staff."

Johnson, a journalism and political science double-major, has worked at The Maneater since August. Called the staff’s "ball of sunshine" by one co-worker, Johnson broke news about one of Columbia’s biggest stories of the year, snagging the first interview with the city’s police chief after two arrests were made in connection with a rash of shootings.

"I got involved with The Maneater for everyone else’s reasons. I continue to work for my own," she wrote in her scholarship essay. "I am in love with this paper, this staff and this job because it gives me purpose…I work at MU’s best newspaper because I could not imagine going a week, let alone a day, without it."

Committee member Barb Burlison, a member of The Maneater’s inaugural staff and its former longtime adviser, said Johnson "takes on a project and then simply improves on what is required to make the finished product polished and outstanding." Kravitz said she’s one of the paper’s "rising stars."

"Lizzie is an incredible asset to the newspaper and college journalism, and The Maneater will be in good hands with excellent journalists like her," he said.

The Maneater scholarship program was created in 2008 using seed money donated during the paper’s 50th anniversary celebration in 2005 as well as other alumni gifts. It has previously awarded $500 scholarships to four hard-working staff members. All staff members—writers, editors, photographers, designers, advertising and business staffers—are eligible to apply.

The Maneater was founded on Feb. 18, 1955, by Joel Gold. Gold took the former student newspaper, The Missouri Student, which was then run by the Delta Upsilon fraternity, and renamed it The Maneater to reflect a more aggressive news style. Since then, The Maneater has prided itself on passionately reporting and seeking out what’s important to its student readership. The newspaper has won numerous national and regional journalism honors, including recently receiving 26 awards at April’s MCMA convention. Maneater alumni have gone on to work in many of the nation’s top newsrooms, including The Associated Press, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, USA Today and The Washington Post.

The editorial and advertising staffs at The Maneater are comprised entirely of students with the exception of an adviser and receptionist. The Maneater is the official student newspaper of the University of Missouri and is a student organization that operates independently from the student government, the School of Journalism and any other campus entity.

The scholarship committee has been able to increase the award amount, as well as make an exception this year to honor two students, thanks to the generous donations of its proud alumni base. The committee wishes to thank alumni and donors for continuing to support the paper, and ask any friends and alumni interested in donating to the scholarship program to contact Maneater adviser Becky Diehl.

"These two embody the best of young journalists," Burlison said. "We may not be able (to award two scholarships) every year, but can do it this year."