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June 7: Colonnade at the Zoo June 4: National Volunteer Council Meeting Jun 18: New York Regional Alumni Event |
Colonnade Society members and guest of the College of Chemical and Life Sciences are invited to embark on a zoo scavenger hunt featuring encounters with wildlife and Maryland faculty partnering with the Smithsonian Institution to help protect endangered species. |
 Helping Students Reach for the StarsA Memory to Keep
“I was determined not to let the scholarship lapse,” Karen Houston says. “I knew how strongly Chris had felt about the value of an education, and I also recognized the slow economy was probably affecting students, too, making it even more difficult to pay for college.” Houston decided to provide additional funding to the K. Christopher Houston Scholarship, which she originally endowed with assistance from her husband’s family and colleagues. It’s one of many endowed scholarships at universities nationwide that have seen declines in income derived from stock investments. This enhanced commitment to help students directly benefited Jolie Doggett, recipient of the 2009 scholarship that is designated to a broadcast journalism student in the Philip Merrill College of Journalism. Lee Thornton, the college’s Richard Eaton Chair in Broadcast Journalism, had met Chris and Karen in the 1980s, when all three were rising stars on the local and national media scene. “Chris was a very fun-loving person,” recalls Thornton, “but he was mostly recognized as a meticulous reporter and editor who really had a passion for journalism.” Chris Houston had spent 18 years at WUSA–TV in Washington, D.C., advancing from reporter trainee to assignment editor to sports director to senior assignment manager before losing a battle with pancreatic cancer three years ago at age 42. Thornton says a Merrill College scholarship committee looks for students who reflect the same insatiable appetite for solid news reporting as Chris Houston, which is why it selected Doggett. “I just want to inform people,” says Doggett, a native of Newport News, Va., who returns as a sophomore this fall. “There are lots of important stories to be told—whether it’s reporting about teenagers fighting wars in Africa, or describing how young people where I grew up may not value an education as much as they should.” In April, Doggett was invited to a reception at Karen Houston’s home in Silver Spring, where the young journalist met a who’s who of broadcast media from Washington, D.C., including the region’s first African American female news anchor, J.C. Hayward of WUSA–TV, and Wendy Rieger, a veteran anchor at NBC4–TV. Doggett didn’t let her lack of years keep her from acting like a seasoned reporter, recalls Karen Houston. “She had a fire in her belly for the business,” Houston says. “She worked the crowd like a pro, making contacts, asking about internships … I think that is what most impressed many of us.” When it came time for Doggett to accept her award, the brief notes she had written on index cards fell by the wayside. After hearing so many stories about Chris Houston, Doggett broke into tears, explaining how grateful she was for the scholarship, but also that even with a financial aid package of small grants and student loans, she worried about paying for her second year at Maryland. Her heartfelt remarks struck a chord with the audience, Houston says, with many of them immediately writing checks—totaling more than $4,000—to the scholarship fund, assuring that Doggett could receive additional support. Two weeks later, Houston had a leather-bound journal delivered to Doggett that was signed by dozens of reporters at the reception, sharing words of wisdom about their experiences in the news industry and life. “That means so much to me,” Doggett says. “I can look at it for inspiration whenever I’m having a hard day.” Houston says the experience touched her as well: “I just want people like Jolie to be able to follow their dreams, just as I did … just as Chris did.” Learn how you can make your mark on Maryland by supporting the Philip Merrill College of Journalism  | ||||||
