Danielle Deavens '16 and Connor DelPrete '16 will earn summer grants and scholarships.
Two students in Elon University’s School of Communications have been selected for this summer’s Scripps Howard Foundation’s 2015 Internship and Scholarship Program.
Danielle Deavens ’16 and Connor DelPrete ’16 will both receive a $3,000 summer grant, along with a $500 scholarship for the fall 2015 semester.
Deavens, a journalism and English double major from Farmington, Connecticut, will intern at Essence magazine in New York. A member of the communications and English honors societies, Lambda Pi Eta and Sigma Tau Delta, she currently works as a senior reporter for The Pendulum.
Additionally, Deavens is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and an active leader in the Greek life community at Elon. She is passionate about writing and editing, but also enjoys music and cooking in her free time. Upon graduation, Deavens plans to pursue a career in magazine journalism. In summer 2014, she interned with Hartford Magazine, a lifestyle publication in Connecticut.
Associate Professor Michael Skube counts Deavens among the most talented and ambitious students he’s taught in 13 years in higher education.
“She is insatiably curious, committed to the journalist’s craft, and eager for constructive criticism,” Skube said. “I am certain she has the potential not simply to work in journalism, but to rise to a high level of responsibility.”
Added Pendulum adviser Colin Donohue, “When thinking about Danielle as a journalist and reporter, the three P’s come to mind: poise, preparation and professionalism. She is a thoughtful student with a sharp mind and an ability to relate to people. She writes richly and deeply because of how well she interviews and researches.”
A broadcast journalism and statistics double major from Annapolis, Maryland, DelPrete plans to intern at Newseum, an interactive museum of news and journalism in Washington, D.C. He will serve as a technical operations intern. DelPrete said he hopes his Newseum internship will provide him with a better understanding of the control room and all of the details that go into making a large-scale production.
Heading into his senior year, DelPrete has been named the host for the 2015-16 season of “One on One Sports,” a student-run sports debate show. Additionally, he is also an active member of Delta Upsilon, a social fraternity.
“Connor has a reserved personality that can mask his drive and ability until you see him in action,” said Gerald Gibson, an assistant professor of communications. “He embraces each task or challenge with enthusiasm, refusing to stop until he’s certain that the result you see is the absolute best of which he is capable. He also has a sly sense of humor that he reveals only after you’ve known him for awhile.”
The Scripps Howard Foundation is the corporate foundation of The E. W. Scripps Company. The foundation states its mission is to “advance the cause of a free press through support of excellence in journalism, quality journalism education and professional development.”