Mandy Jenkins Memorial Scholarship
The will honor the legacy of Mandy Jenkins, a two-time graduate of Kent State's School of Media and Journalism, by supporting a Kent State student who is in a student media newsroom leadership role. Jenkins spent more than two decades as a journalist and newsroom leader. She helped newsrooms adapt for the digital age, developing strategies for online news presentation, finding new audiences with social media and using the internet for reporting.
Honor Mandy's Legacy
Mandy loved the work, friends and mission of student media. She appreciated the diverse experiences and practical education it provided, loved to have a voice in the campus discourse, learned how to solve problems and see the strategic issues facing the news business. She felt very strongly that journalism suffers if it excludes the working and middle classes.
Your Gift Supports Kent State Student Media Leaders
Mandy Jenkins died after four years of cancer treatments at age 42 on Feb. 26, 2023. Her husband, Ben Fischer, who she met at Kent State, and their families and friends, have established the Mandy Jenkins Memorial Scholarship to:
-
Honor and sustain Mandy's legacy by supporting the practical education and experiential learning of future newsroom leaders and digital news strategists
-
Strengthen today's student media
-
Level the playing field to ensure the future of news is decided by thoughtful leaders of all economic backgrounds
Remembering a Pioneer in Digital Journalism
Mandy Jenkins began her robust journalism career during a time where the news industry was changing quickly, and faculty who taught her say she was particularly well-suited for this challenge.
“I could see that she thought on a trajectory that was light-years ahead of other people when it came to holding people close and saying, ‘What is it you really want to do? What should this thing really look like?’" said Emerita Associate Professor Barbara Hipsman Springer. That was important in the mid-2000s when newsrooms were adapting to the emerging digital landscape; they needed people like Jenkins who were fast learners and didn’t feel bound by rules.