CoSIDA Announces 2020-21 Scholarship and Grants Award Winners
College Sports Information Directors of America
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by Brian Laubscher, Washington and Lee University Sports Information Director
Chair of the CoSIDA Scholarship Committee
The College Sports Information Directors of America announced its class of scholarship and grant winners for the 2020-21 academic year on June 4.
CoSIDA Scholarship Committee members chose a trio of $10,000 postgraduate scholarship recipients, three more $5,000 undergraduate scholarship winners, two renewable $1,000 scholarship winners among the children of CoSIDA members, and selected two schools to receive $15,000 graduate internship grants.
The CoSIDA Postgraduate Scholarships have been awarded since the program began in 1981. Two of the three scholarships, the Wylie Smith Scholarship and the Langston Rodgers Scholarship, are named in honor of outstanding professionals in the athletics communications industry.
This year’s recipient of the CoSIDA Postgraduate Scholarship is Amber Dubois of the University of North Florida. Tim Heiduk of Concordia (Calif.) will receive the Wylie Smith Scholarship and Mary Murray of Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham will receive the Langston Rodgers Scholarship.
| 11216 Amber Dubois | 11217 Tim Heiduk | 11218 Mary Murray |
Dubois is a 2019 graduate of Guilford College and she spent the 2019-20 school year as a graduate assistant in the athletic communications office at the University of North Florida, where she is pursuing an advanced degree in educational leadership with a focus in athletic administration. She spent two years as a sports information assistant at Guilford, where she earned a bachelor of science in sport management and was a four-year starter on the women’s lacrosse team. Dubois also served as a communications freelancer and gameday operations member with the Atlantic Coast Conference and she spent the summer of 2018 assisting the media relations office at Towson University. She currently serves as the primary contact for the women’s tennis and cross country/track & field teams, and she is the secondary contact for softball.
Heiduk earned a bachelor of arts from Westmont College in December of 2019, majoring in both economics and business and communication studies, while also serving as a student assistant in the sports information office. Upon graduating, he began working full-time as a sports information assistant, and he will begin studies towards an advanced degree in coaching and athletics administration at Concordia (Calif.) University this summer. In addition to his work in the sports information office, Heiduk also served as a lead broadcaster for the Westmont Sports Network and as the sports editor of The Horizon, the Westmont College student newspaper. He was a two-year captain of the Westmont men’s soccer team, earning conference player of the year and NAIA All-America honors following his senior season.
Murray is a 2020 graduate of Arcadia University, where she earned a bachelor of arts in global media with a minor in pre-law. She was a four-year student intern in the athletic communications office and a member of the varsity softball team. She earned all-conference laurels across each of her first three seasons and was the conference pitcher of the year as a junior. Her senior season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing her to pursue a graduate transfer to Fairleigh Dickinson-Florham to complete her athletic eligibility. She will pursue an advanced degree and will assist the athletic communications office.
The CoSIDA Undergraduate Scholarships have been presented every year since 1999 and two of the scholarships are also named for outstanding professionals in the field, Fred Neusch and Dave Wohlhueter.
The 2019-20 recipients of the CoSIDA Undergraduate Scholarships include Noah Syverson of Berry College, Hannah Dumaine of Bryant University and Miles Whitling from the University of Idaho.
| 11219 Noah Syverson | 11220 Hannah Dumaine | 11221 Miles Whitling |
Syverson expects to graduate from Berry in the spring of 2021 with a bachelor of arts in communication. He has served as a student assistant in the sports information office since December of 2017, serving as the school’s play-by-play announcer, a public address announcer, a scoreboard operator and statistician. He is also the executive director of Viking Fusion Studio at Berry, where he manages a team of 25 members in five different departments. Additionally, he performs play-by-play for the Mountain Coast Network, covering various high school events in the area, and he is a regular contributor to the Rome News-Tribune.
Dumaine has served as a work study student assistant in the athletic communications office at Bryant for each of her first two years, serving in a variety of roles. A President’s List student, she expects to graduate in 2022 with a major in communications and minors in business administration and psychology.
Whitling is pursuing a bachelor of science in business marketing with minors in advertising and sales management from the University of Idaho with an expected graduation in 2021. He is a two-year member of the athletic communications office as a student assistant, taking the lead on departmental graphics and videos, while also developing marketing plans for the department. He’s also spent three years working with Learfield IMG College to promote Vandal athletics.
To be eligible for either the Postgraduate or Undergraduate Scholarships, candidates must maintain a 3.0 cumulative grade-point average and express an interest in pursuing a career in sports information.
The Phil Langan Graduate Internships were also introduced in 1999 as a way to assist understaffed offices and provide opportunity for those wishing to break into the field. These are one-year grants of $15,000 to hire a graduate intern. The 2020-21 school year will see the University of St. Francis (Ill.) and Chicago State University receive the $15,000 grant to assist the efforts of two talented professionals.
| 8936 St. Francis (Ill.) | 9886 Joe Gorby | 9834 Chicago State | 5766 Jessica Poole |
At St. Francis, Joe Gorby recently completed his first year coordinating the athletic communication efforts for the school’s 22-sport intercollegiate athletics program. Gorby is a long-time CoSIDA veteran, having started his career in the field as a student assistant at Central Michigan in 1986. Since then, he’s held positions at Western Kentucky, Michigan Tech, Ferris State, Arkansas State, Lake Superior State, Arkansas Tech and Missouri University of Science and Technology. Gorby, who receives a 2020 CoSIDA 25-Year Award this spring, is currently the lone full-time employee in the athletic communications office at St. Francis.
Jessica Poole is completing her first year as the Senior Associate Athletic Director for External Operations and Revenue Generation at Chicago State University. She currently serves CoSIDA as the organization’s third vice-president and chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee. Chicago State has a 10-sport intercollegiate athletics program and competes in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) with one full-time member of the athletic communications staff. Prior to taking over at CSU, she has held positions at Florida Atlantic, Vanderbilt, Mississippi, Dartmouth, Michigan and UNC Greensboro.
The CoSIDA Member-Child Scholarships constitute the organization’s newest scholarship program, assisting with educational funding for children of CoSIDA members. The program began in 2014 and is a $1,000 award that is renewable for up to four academic years given that the recipients meet the basic qualifications of the award.
This year’s new recipients are Hailey Yellin and McKenna DiCamillo.
| 11222 McKenna DiCamillo | 11223 Hailey Yellin |
Prior scholarship winners who will receive the scholarship for 2020-21 provided they continue to meet the requirements include Hannah Grossman (Andy Grossman, UNLV), Kevin Mobley (Mike Mobley, Georgia), Karlee Bird (Kelly Bird, Linfield), Peter Hartrick (John Hartrick, Binghamton), Sam Sadowski (Chuck Sadowski, Bridgeport) and Solomon Serba-Davis (Kyle Serba, North Carolina Central).
Hailey Yellin is the daughter of Jason Yellin, associate athletics director and strategic communications officer at the University of Maryland. Hailey will be attending Maryland this fall with the intention of majoring in journalism. She recently graduated, Magna Cum Laude, from Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville, Ill., earning Illinois State Scholar distinction.
McKenna DiCamillo is the daughter of Tom DiCamillo, the current commissioner of the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) and a member of the CoSIDA Hall of Fame and a former CoSIDA president. McKenna will be attending St. John Fisher University this fall after gaining acceptance into the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society and earning an associate degree in media communications from Cayuga Community College this spring.
With expansion of the Scholarships and Grants program prior to the 2018-19 academic year, CoSIDA awards its membership over $80,000 annually. Application deadlines are in April and the recipients are selected every May. For more information about the program and how you may benefit, please visit the Scholarship and Grants link on CoSIDA.com.
All-Time CoSIDA Honorees
Postgraduate Scholarship
1981 Craig Bohnert, Evansville 1982 John Lashway, Oregon 1983 Jay Hill, Michigan 1984 Jonathan Dukes, Georgia Southern 1985 Brian Teter, Illinois State 1986 Mark Berger, Ohio 1987 Chris McMurry, Northern Arizona 1988 Angela Hultman, Mankato State 1989 Beth Haag, Iowa State 1990 Stephanie Grimes, Boise State 1991 Lana Bandy, Purdue 1992 Amy Stabley, Central Michigan / Robert Hester, Northern Illinois 1993 Will Roleson, Miami (Ohio) 1994 Randy Hayson, Illinois State 1995 Stuart McFarland, Missouri / Sally Krauss, Western Kentucky 1996 Jeff Griesch, Nebraska 1997 Chris Ambrose, Purdue / Jeff Griesch, Nebraska 1998 Chris Ambrose, Purdue / Brian Gunning, Marshall 1999 Brian Gunning, Marshall / Heidi Roth, Syracuse 2000 Mark Fratto, Maryland / Andy Knappick, Illinois State 2001 Brad Caudill, Eastern Michigan / Susan Seabrook, Alabama-Birmingham 2002 Michelle Kelley, Colgate / Sean Wright, Westminster (Mo.) 2003 Brad Fischer, Wisconsin-La Crosse / Lainie Guiddy, West Virginia 2004 Eric Braley, Northern Iowa / Kristopher Sears, Indiana 2005 Michael Potter, Ball State / Erin Whiteside, Penn State 2006 Chris Yandle, Marshall / Jessica Calderone, Southeast Louisiana 2007 Caroline Domecq, Georgia / Kyle Chilton, Southern Virginia 2008 Jared Verner, Northwest Missouri State / Kendra Lee, Ohio State 2009 Laurie Wild, Northern Iowa / Britney Wright, Florida State 2010 Grant Abston, Texas / Mariel Brady, St. John’s 2011 Andrew Lentz, Tennessee / Britney Reddick, Kutztown 2012 Carli Todd, DePaul / Joelle Milholm, Cal State Bakersfield 2013 Kim Carper, Vanderbilt / Joelle Milholm, Cal State Bakersfield 2014 Kati Morse, Southeastern Louisiana / Kyle Skene, Millsaps 2015 Andrew Forhan, Whitworth / Akilah Laster, Oklahoma 2016 James Hajek, Nebraska / Lorie Garnett, Nebraska 2017 Nicole Praga, Arizona State / Andrea Beene, Oklahoma 2018 Lauren Simpson, Illinois State / McKenzie Pavacich, Arizona State / Scott Vander Sloot, Ashland University 2019 Jordyn Ballard, Black Hills State / Tyler Roper, Utah Valley / Shaylee Souza, Arizona State 2020 Amber Dubois, North Florida / Tim Heiduk, Concordina (Calif.) / Mary Murray, Fairleigh Dickinson - Florham
Undergraduate Scholarship
1999 Kate Adams, Iowa State / Michelle La Scola, Northern Illinois / Casey Taylor, Christopher Newport 2000 Daniel Dykstra, Wheaton (Ill.) / Kimberly Frederick, Manhattan / Bobbie Horstman, Iowa State 2001 Bobbie Horstman, Iowa State / Shayla Reiff, Mt. Vernon Nazarene / Dustin Roberts, Oklahoma 2002 Branie Davidson, Northwest Missouri State / Shante Gree, Fayetteville State / Teri LaJeunesse, Michigan Tech 2003 Kimberly Gray Folkes, Virginia Tech / Adam Holtz, Bethany Lutheran / Laura Schoenberger, Pittsburg State 2004 Cassie Chance, Mississippi State / Nick Kiger, Colorado State 2005 John Vogel, Youngstown State / Monique Bowman, Capital University 2006 Todd Zeidler, Bemidji / Amy Robertson, Mississippi State 2007 Caleb Hawley, Oregon State / Christina Marshall, James Madison 2008 Andrew Middleman, Baldwin-Wallace / Kevin Flora, University of the Cumberlands 2009 Carli Todd, Tampa / David Bodman, La Salle 2010 Michael Benson, Southern Illinois-Carbondale / James Rodriguez, Baldwin-Wallace 2011 Adam K. Moussa, Memphis / Erica LaBranche, Stonehill 2012 Jake Faber, Pittsburg State / Ashley Goettl, Wisconsin-River Falls 2013 Casey Bonk, Pittsburgh / Lucy Montgomery, Washington-St. Louis 2014 Mike Mulcahy, New Mexico / Kourtney Freiburger, Purdue 2015 Nathan Edwards, San Jose State / Marisa Lombardo, Alvernia 2016 Morgan Romans, Eastern Kentucky / Christy Effendie, UC Davis 2017 Christopher Lawrence, Alaska Anchorage / Bailey Knecht, Northeastern 2018 Victoria Mills, Fort Wayne / Chelsea Lombardo, Adelphi / Liam Pickhardt, Linfield College 2019 Joseph Haueter, Mount Union / Kai Henson, St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) / Gabriel Vegas-Valente, Nebraska 2020 Noah Syverson, Berry College / Hannah Dumaine, Bryant / Miles Whitling, Idaho
Graduate Internship Grant
1999 Alabama A&M, Wright State 2000 Central Oklahoma, Urbana (Ohio) 2001 Central State (Ohio), Cheyney 2002 Eckerd College, Hardin-Simmons 2003 St. Francis (N.Y.), Tennessee Tech 2004 Carroll College 2005 Wesleyan University 2006 Bellarmine 2007 Central College of Iowa 2008 Grand Canyon University 2009 Lake Erie College 2010 Illinois Wesleyan 2011 Ursinus 2012 DePauw 2013 Chicago State 2014 Gallaudet 2015 Elmhurst College 2016 Post University 2017 Connecticut College 2018 Wright State / The Sage Colleges 2019 Benedict College / Westminster College (Mo.) 2020 St. Francis (Ill.) / Chicago State
Member Child Scholarship
2014 Grace Neely (Kentucky)/Tony Neely (Kentucky) - Dakota Hawkins (Winthrop)/Michael Hawkins (Francis Marion)
2015 Brinley Lowe (North Carolina)/Bob Lowe (Berry College) - Lauren Dickerson (William & Mary)/Drew Dickerson (Atlantic 10 Conference)
2016 Fiona Lefresne (Missouri State)/Pete Lefresne (Saint Leo) - Daniel Ruple (Baldwin Wallace)/Kevin Ruple (Baldwin Wallace)
2017 Fiona Lefresne (Missouri State)/Pete Lefresne (Saint Leo) - Daniel Ruple (Baldwin Wallace)/Kevin Ruple (Baldwin Wallace)
Lauren Dickerson (William & Mary)/Drew Dickerson (Atlantic 10) - Kevin Mobley (Georgia)/Mike Mobley (Georgia)
2018 Peter Hartrick (Scranton)/John Hartrick (Binghamton) - Karlee Bird (Linfield College)/Kelly Bird (Linfield College)
Fiona Lefresne (Missouri State)/Pete Lefresne (Earlham College) - Daniel Ruple (Baldwin Wallace)/Kevin Ruple (Baldwin Wallace)
Kevin Mobley (Georgia)/Mike Mobley (Georgia)
2019 Sam Sadowski (Tufts)/Chuck Sadowski (Bridgeport)
Solomon Serba-Davis (North Carolina Wilmington)/Kyle Serba (North Carolina Central)
2020 McKenna DiCamillo (St. John Fisher)/Tom DiCamillo (State University of New York Athletic Conference)
Hailey Yellin (Maryland)/Jason Yellin (Maryland)
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