NYABJ SCHOLARSHIP

Sylvia L. Wilson Memorial Scholarship

Columbia University established the Sylvia L. Wilson Memorial Scholarship to honor the former New York Times copy editor, a graduate of Columbia and Yale Universities, who died of brain cancer at age 28. The endowment exceeds $25,000 and is Columbia's first to salute an African American journalist.

Sylvia joined the Times as a copy editor trainee in 1986 and, nearing the end of that yearlong stint, underwent the first of two operations to remove a cerebral tumor. In early 1988, she returned to copyedit the newspaper's Connecticut Weekly section. But ill health forced Wilson to stop working shortly before a second operation in 1990. Her colleagues and friends were touched and inspired by the kindness, dignity, professionalism and determination she displayed during the last three and half years of her life.

The Wilson scholarship is awarded to a minority student in Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism, with preference given to aspiring editors.

Donors may send checks or money orders payable to:

Sylvia L. Wilson Memorial Scholarship Fund
Columbia University
 Graduate School of Journalism
Journalism Building, Room 709A
New York, New York 10027

For over 20 years, NYABJ has provided financial support to more than 300 area African American students who are pursuing careers in journalism.

For more information about NYABJ Scholarships, please contact Daphne Young, chairwoman of the chapter's scholarship and student outreach committee. The committee administers the annual scholarship and essay competition, works with the chapter's fund raising committee to raise scholarship money, and solicits applications from journalism students and instructors within the New York college community. The committee also administers the annual journalism workshop.

Scholarship queries may also be sent to nyabj_scholarships@yahoo.com