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January 15, 2004
Flip Wilson Scholarship Winners Announced
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| Janine Brown |
Janine Brown and Marguerite Estephan are the first Rutgers
University students to be awarded Flip Wilson Scholarships,
a scholarship program created in June 2003 and offered at
a small number of universities throughout the country.
Brown and Estephan were chosen based partly on their essays
regarding some aspect of Flip Wilson's work and impact on
television or comedy. The scholarship is available to full-time
junior or senior journalism majors who require financial need
and have a cumulative 3.0 grade point average based on a 4.0
scale.
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| Marguerite Estephan |
Brown said she knew she wanted to be a journalist when she
was 13. She had her own column in the The Jersey Journal,
a daily newspaper based in Jersey City, in which she would
share her views on current events and issues affecting teenagers.
She said she enjoyed being a local celebrity, not for the
recognition, but rather because of the service she provided
to her community and the sense that a journalist's first obligation
is to the public. This commitment inspired her to pursue undergraduate
study in journalism.
At Douglass, she participates in a number of activities and
internships. These include being a member of Public Leadership
Education Network, Emerging Leaders, a Peer Academic Leader,
a resident assistant for 2 years, and a tutor at the writing
center.
Over the summer, she conducted a research project entitled
“Traditional African American Roles Depicted in Contemporary
Television: A Closer Look at Black Entertainment Television.”
It was an analysis of BET's programming and its correlation
to black breakthrough characters of the past. Brown had the
honor of presenting her research at the University of Baltimore
and at the Annual McNair Symposium in Wisconsin. This research
was the basis for the Flip Wilson essay.
Brown said her future goals include attending graduate school
to obtain her master’s in broadcast journalism, and
gaining an on-air position in radio or television. With her
degree, she hopes to obtain an on-air position and write news
for either television or radio. She said she aspires to become
a media personality that serves as a role model to the Black
community--a model that accurately depicts African-Americans.
After working in the media industry, she ultimately would
like to teach at the university level. She said she is a firm
believer in giving back to the community, and because there
have been many that have guided her success and continue to
encourage her, teaching would be my way of reciprocating.
Marguerite Estephan, 21, is a fourth-year student at the
School of Communication, Information, and Library Studies
at Rutgers University, where she has a 3.87 cumulative grade
point average. In May 2004, she will graduate with a bachelor’s
degree in journalism and media studies. Estephan is a native
of Easton, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Easton Area High
School in 2000. In addition to journalism, she has studied
psychology and communication as her minors.
Estephan interned for a semester as a production associate
at ABC News Productions in New York City, and has served as
a Scarlet Ambassador tour guide at Rutgers since 2001. She
has also produced segments for a weekly student television
program called “Inside Rutgers” on RU-TV. Estephan
is currently interning as an admissions associate for Rutgers
University’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions.
Born to Lebanese parents, Estephan said she appreciates the
ethnic and racial diversity that the late Flip Wilson introduced
to the American audience. Upon graduating, she hopes to pursue
a career in public relations or print journalism.
Through Flip Wilson's estate, Wilson created the Los Angeles-based
Flip Wilson Scholarship fund to provide scholarships for students
majoring in journalism, notes James M.A. Murphy, fund executor.
Trustees Walter Mandell, Angelina Hill and Alan Reback, and
longtime Wilson friend and former publicist Dr. Kathleen Fearn-Banks,
now a professor at the University of Washington, selected
Rutgers to be among the first universities to receive the
scholarship award. "Rutgers was selected because it offers
the leading journalism program in Flip's home state,"
Dr. Kathleen Fearn-Banks explained.
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