Our Crowdfunding Groups
Starting your career after graduation isn’t easy – the Lois Sutherland Award was created to help! This award bestows $500 to a graduating senior to help them establish themselves in the professional world. The award was started by a memorial fund that was created in Lois’ honor when she passed away in 2002, but the fund was not endowed. We have now reached the point where we can no longer offer additional awards without obtaining more funding. We aim to raise at least $4,000, and we need your help! A successful campaign would allow us to continue offering these $500 awards for the next 8 years.
Who was Lois Sutherland?
Lois Sutherland was the founding member of our journalism program and a charter member of the NKU faculty in 1971 (back when it was still known as Northern Kentucky State College). She was a 2010 inductee of the KY Journalism Hall of Fame, worked as a sports reporter for the Cincinnati Times-Star and was one of the earliest women to do locker room interviews. In addition, she was the founding adviser of our student newspaper, The Northerner.
Why support this award?
When you graduate, you lose access to a lot of the tools and networking opportunities that being a student provided – creating a barrier to continuing the amazing work our students have been creating! This award is meant to help recent graduates pay for things like memberships in organizations such as the Society for Professional Journalists; to help cover the cost of necessary tools like the Adobe Creative Suites or Microsoft Office 365; and to keep them on the path to a successful journalism career.
