University Park, Pa. -- Josh Moyer, a Penn State senior majoring in journalism from Pottsville, Pa., was one of seven students nationally selected to receive a $5,000 scholarship from the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation.
Students from 29 journalism schools across the nation applied for the annual scholarships from the foundation.
Moyer, who has worked for The Daily Collegian covering a variety of sports, among them basketball, golf, hockey and football during his career at Penn State, submitted an essay about the ethics of sportswriters and editors voting for sports awards and Hall of Fame honors. That essay, along with an application and recommendations of faculty members comprised his scholarship entry.
"It was exciting news to be selected," Moyer said. "When I found out, I was just getting ready to finalize my school loans, so the scholarship made a significant difference for me now and it'll certainly be important in the long run."
A national panel of judges reviewed the numerous scholarship submissions and judged Moyer's as one of the best. Those judges were: Rachel Bachman, The Oregonian; Bryan Burwell, St. Louis Times-Dispatch; Gordon Edes, The Boston Globe; Helene Elliott, The Los Angeles Times; Jerry Izenberg, Newark Star-Ledger; Rob McCurdy, News-Journal (Mansfield, Ohio); and Ken Peters of The Associated Press-Los Angeles.
Along with the scholarship, Moyer earned an invitation to the foundation's award ceremony, scheduled for December in California.
"That's exciting, too, because I've never been to California before," Moyer said.
This summer, Moyer completed an internship at the Morning Call in Allentown, Pa. As part of those duties, he covered a variety of sporting events, served as a copy editor and worked on the newspaper's night desk. His final assignment was covering a Major League Soccer match featuring internationally known David Beckham at Giants Stadium in New Jersey.
This fall, he returned to campus as assistant sports editor and football editor of The Daily Collegian.
The foundation was established in 1999 to perpetuate the legacy of Jim Murray, the late sports columnist for the Los Angeles Times. Murray, a columnist for the Times from 1961 until his death in 1998, earned numerous awards, among them a Pulitzer Prize in 1990, during his illustrious career. He was named "America's Best Sportswriter" by the National Association of Sportscasters and Sports Writers 14 times.
Murray's widow, Linda McCoy-Murray, serves as president and founder of the foundation. She established the foundation to honor her late husband's legacy and share his dedication and love of sports journalism with future generations of sports journalists.
The foundation added John Curley Center for Sports Journalism and housed the College of Communications at Penn State to its scholarship program in May 2007. At that time, Malcolm Moran, the Knight Chair in Sports Journalism and Society at Penn State, said the University would work hard each year to identify as a student worthy of selection as a Murray Scholar. With Moyer's selection, Moran proved prophetic.
The John Curley Center for Sports Journalism was established in 2003 with Distinguished Professional in Residence and Professor John Curley and Dean Doug Anderson serving as founding co-directors. It was named the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism in September 2006, honoring Curley, whose more than five decades of newspaper experience includes work as a reporter, editor, publisher and, ultimately, president, CEO and chairman of the Gannett Co. He was the first editor of USA Today.
Along with classroom instruction, the Center's mission stresses the value of interaction, from on-campus guest lectures and on-site visits by students to real-life experience gained through internships. Sponsored programming includes lectures, panels and workshops on journalism and the role of sport in society as well as research on sports journalism topics.
For more information on the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation, check it out online at http://www.jimmurrayfoundation.org