The second floor of the Student Center filled with students and their families congratulating one another on their accomplishments yesterday.

The School of Journalism and Mass Communication scholarship and awards ceremony honored nearly 60 men and women from every major in the program.

“The hardest working people I know are college students,” Director Jeff Fruit said regarding the jobs students do to help them financially through college.

The college awarded more than $50,000, Fruit said. That is double what the school offered a few years ago.

Winners were selected by a scholarship committee based on the strengths of their applications and outside work. The scholarships came from earnings of the endowments, and the awards are donated annually.

The ceremony also honored the donors by offering an opportunity for the recipients to meet the donors over lunch. Many of the donors presented their own awards or their family’s award and briefly talked about the recipient’s accomplishments.

Nancy E. Whitehead awarded Nate Sargent, junior advertising major and Daily Kent Stater sales manager, with her Nancy E. Whitehead Journalism Scholarship.

“I saw as a parent how hard it was to put a student through college,” Whitehead said as to why she started the scholarship.

Whitehead enjoys being able to help advertising majors with their financial situations.

Lauren Buckosh, senior visual journalism major, has been awarding the Robert Sorino Scholarship in honor of her uncle for the last eight years.

“When I first started (giving the award) I knew no one. Now I know about half the people in the room,” Buckosh said. “It’s nice to see professors and everyone so actively involved.”

This was the 20th anniversary for the Sorino scholarship.

“The scholarship was funded for a photographer with a love of life instead of a high GPA,” Sorino’s college fiancee Judy McGlinchy Giovanetti said. “Because that is what (Sorino) had.”

Professor Gary Hanson and LuEtt Hanson, associate dean of the College of Communication and Information, presented the first Lloyd W. Hanson and Harvey E. Rahn scholarship in honor of their fathers.

“I am honored that I fulfill everything they felt this honor is for,” said Amanda Kelley, sophomore broadcast journalism major and winner of the Lloyd W. Hanson and Harvey E. Rahn scholarship.

Alexia Harris, senior public relations major, said she was thankful to win the Ralph C. Darrow Scholarship.

“The program I’m in now he helped start, so I am honored to receive this award,” Harris said.

“It’s a really big help because I have a family to take care of and my work money goes towards the family instead of towards college,” Harris said.

The new members of Kappa Tau Alpha fraternity, a national college honor society for students in the top 10 percent of their classes, were also recognized at the ceremony.

Contact College of Architecture and Environmental Design reporter Kelsey Henninger at [email protected].