About the SCPA Foundation
The South Carolina Press Association Foundation encourages talented young people to enter the newspaper business and provides training and growth opportunities for working professionals. For more information, or to make a donation, click here.

SCPA Foundation Scholarships and Internships
Each year, the Foundation awards scholarships and internships to S.C. college students. The deadline to apply for 2012 internships and scholarships has passed. Three or more interns are placed each summer at daily and weekly member newspapers, allowing students invaluable real-world training experience. The Foundation also awards up to three scholarships each year to rising college juniors interested in pursuing newspaper careers. The premier scholarship, for $3,000, is named for the Foundation's first president, the late Frank R. Mundy of the Greenwood Index-Journal.

Smoak Scholarship Fund for newspaper professionals
The Smoak Scholarship Fund is now available through the S.C. Press Association Foundation to help newspaper professionals pursue business educational opportunities.  This award is presented in remembrance of Joseph M. Smoak, longtime vice president and general manager of The Evening Post Co. in Charleston. Smoak was president of the Press Association in 1991 and is remembered for his sharp newspaper business acumen. He died in 1993.

Rather than provide an annual scholarship to one or two individuals per year, the SCPA Foundation Board has created a plan that will allow for a larger number of people to receive educational assistance through the Smoak Scholarship Fund. This help can be for such things as tuition assistance, scholarships to business seminars or workshops, or other educational opportunities that may be available. 

This plan allows member newspapers, on behalf of current employees, to request one-time assistance for an employee who is pursuing additional education or training opportunities. Unlike the current scholarships awarded by the SCPA Foundation to aspiring journalists, and in keeping with Mr. Smoak’s background, all Smoak funds will be awarded only to students or professionals who are interested in the business aspects of the newspaper field. 

The Smoak fund now has sufficient assets to distribute up to $6,000 per year. Scholarship awards are not limited to a particular school or type of program, and the percentage of program costs covered will be dependent upon both the number of applicants requesting assistance and upon the perceived relevance of the program under consideration. Priority will be given to assist as many applicants as possible.

All member newspapers are eligible to request educational assistance from the Smoak fund.  To apply or for more information, contact Bill Rogers at brogers@scpress.org or call (803) 750-9561.

Meet the 2011-2012
scholars and interns

Ryan Quinn is one of two recipients of the S.C. Press Association Foundation’s Mundy Scholarships.  A rising senior majoring in journalism and minoring in political science, Quinn will receive $3,000 towards his schooling at the University of South Carolina. 

The Mundy Scholarships are given in memory of R. Frank Mundy, the late publisher of the Index-Journal in Greenwood and the first president of the SCPA Foundation.

Quinn is the son of John and Jeannine Quinn, hailing from Charleston.  He has spent two years in editor positions at the university’s newspaper, The Daily Gamecock.  Beginning his sophomore year as the assistant editor of The Gamecock’s opinion section known as Viewpoints, Quinn then became editor his of this section his junior year.  In the fall, Quinn will return to The Daily Gamecock as the news editor.

The second recipient of the Mundy Scholarship is Jonathan McFadden, who also received a $4,000 Foundation paid internship for the summer.  McFadden, the son of Nathanial and Joyce McFadden, was raised in Orangeburg, and now attends college at Winthrop University. Not only is McFadden the rising news editor of The Johnsonian, Winthrop University’s student newspaper, but he is also a student leader of Winthrop’s Association of Black Journalists and an outgoing student representative on the Board of Student Publications.  McFadden will be interning with the The News & Reporter in Chester.

Also receiving Foundation internships are Claire Byun and Madoree Pipkins.