The BG News Alumni Society, in cooperation with the Development Office, created the Goodman Memorial Journalism Scholarship effort in fall 2004 with the goal of raising $25,000 to endow two annual student scholarships that will benefit The BG News: a $500 scholarship for an incoming freshman and a $1,000 award for a rising junior or senior.
The criteria that candidates must be graduates of Lorain County, Ohio, high schools to be eligible for the Goodman scholarships has been eliminated. Now, applicants only need to be graduates of any Ohio high school.
Goodman was a 1978 BGSU graduate and former BG News sports editor who became an award-winning Northeast Ohio journalist. He died in 1996 of cancer.
BGSU's Development Office established The BG News Fund in fall 2005 to support leadership development and training for BG News staff members, student travel to professional conferences, and equipment needs.
The BG News Fund helped pay for the travel of 12 BG News staff members to the annual Society of Professional Journalists Region 4 Conference in April in Cincinnati. At the conference, The BG News was named the best student newspaper in the SPJ region.
"The financial need of today's students is such that today's rising tuition costs has resulted in fewer students putting in time at The BG News," said Beth Thomas Hertz, '89, president of the BG News Alumni Society and former BG News editor. "And the valuable experience gained by attending conferences like the SPJ regional is out of reach for many BG News staffers who work more than 20 hours a week at another job to cover tuition costs."
Gifts for both BG News fund-raising efforts can be made online at the BGSU Development Office site and will count toward the University's $120 million campaign, Building Dreams: The Centennial Campaign for Bowling Green State University.
A pledge card also is available at this Web site at the Scholarships link and can be mailed to:
BGSU Foundation
Mileti Alumni Center
Bowling Green, OH 43403
Checks need made payable to the BGSU Foundation, Inc., and payment by credit card can be made by calling the BGSU Foundation Office at 1-800-236-3112 or 419-372-2551.
Make certain that you indicate that your gift is for either the Terry Goodman Memorial Journalism Scholarship or The BG News Fund. For more information, contact Banks in the BGSU Development Office at (419) 372-6389 or banksm@bgsu.edu.
