The GW Hatchet’s scholarship drive raised about $34,520 during the first six months of the campaign, Hatchet General Manager Steve Morse said.
Half of this amount is a dollar-for-dollar donation from the University, matching the funds The Hatchet raises from alumni and friends. GW President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg has pledged to continue to mirror donations up to $250,000.
Current and former Hatchet staff, GW faculty and members of the Washington journalism community officially kicked off the campaign May 3 with a dinner at the National Press Club in Washington.
Morse said 129 donors had contributed $17,260 to the scholarship fund as of June 30.
The four-year campaign goal is $500,000 to help fund scholarships for The Hatchet’s student editorial board and business staff.
Washington Post Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr. was the keynote speaker at the May dinner, which aired on C-SPAN2 late this summer.
Mark Olshaker (’72), a former Hatchet arts editor and award-winning filmmaker and novelist, hosted the dinner.
Three Hatchet alumni – Joye Brown, B.D. Colen and Charles Puffenbarger – were honored at the event with alumni achievement awards for their accomplishments in journalism.
Colen, a 1973 GW graduate and former executive news editor of The Hatchet, led the team of Newsday reporters who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1981 for its coverage of the story of Baby Jane Doe. In addition to his work as a medical writer for Newsday, he was the founding editor of the paper’s science section and a Metro and medical reporter for The Washington Post.
Former Hatchet Editor in Chief Brown (’77) was also a member of the Pulitzer-winning Newsday team and is currently manager of editorial staff development at the paper. She has been Newsday’s Nassau County editor, assistant city editor and a minority affairs reporter.
Brown won the 1994 Deadline Club award for her management of Newsday’ s coverage of the Long Island Railroad shooting.
Though he never worked at The Hatchet, Puffenbarger was an associate professor in GW’s journalism department until he passed away in June. He earned his master’s degree in American history from GW in 1964, and was an adviser and board member at The Hatchet since it incorporated in 1993.
Also at the dinner, former Editor in Chief Jared Sher presented the Charles Puffenbarger Student Service Award to former Managing Editor Kynan Kelly.
Sher said the award will be presented annually to a member of The Hatchet staff who has given exceptional service to the newspaper.
Kelly, a 1997 journalism graduate, was managing editor of The Hatchet for two years, after service as sports editor.
