SAAHJ hosts 11th Annual Scholarship Gala @ the Westin, 7-23

2009 photo

The San Antonio Association of Hispanic Journalists is getting ready for its 11th annual scholarship gala July 23rd at the Westin Riverwalk Hotel. But it has another task at hand now: awarding more than $10,000 in scholarships to students pursuing careers in the media.

Several scholarships are up for grabs, with the number dependent on how many worthy applications are received. Over the years, however, SAAHJ has awarded more than $100,000 in scholarships. Here’s the scholarship application.

And here’s the big news: The deadline to apply is June 27th.

Applicants must be attending colleges or universities in San Antonio, or be studying at schools elsewhere but be permanent residents of Bexar County. Applicants must be studying communications, including marketing and public relations, or print, broadcast, radio or multimedia journalism.

The scholarships are available to any student, regardless of ethnicity or race, who meets those qualifications. They must be enrolled full-time during the 2009-2010 academic year. The scholarship committee, headed by Jeorge Zarazua of the San Antonio Express-News, will award scholarships based on financial need, too.

For more information, go to SAAHJ’s web site. You may contact Zarazua at (210) 250-3234. His e-mail address is jzarazua@express-news.net.

For more about the July 23rd gala or to buy tickets, call Nora Lopez at (210) 250-3219 or e-mail her at nlopez@express-news.net. Here’s a link to a blog about the scholarship gala, which is always a colorful event with a fabulous silent auction. I’m totally biased, however, as I’m serving on this year’s gala committee.

This year it will honor Maria Elena Torralva and the Mexican American students of 1968, primarily from Edgewood High School, who participated in walkouts and political protests against inequities in public school funding, an issue that reached the U.S. Supreme Court. Honoring them for their activism is worth the cost of admission, which is $75 for an individual ticket, or $1,500, $1,000 or $750 for a table.