Students gather in the newly renovated Harrington Living room.|Photo by Grace DeSanti
Former WPRI newscaster Karen Adams recently gave the Harrington School of Communications $1 million to start an annual scholarship for female students pursuing a career in the communications fields.
The scholarship, which will start and run annually in 2021, will be for junior and senior female students, with a 3.0 GPA or higher, that are part of the five majors in the Harrington School. These majors include communication studies, film media, journalism, public relations and writing and rhetoric.
According to the College of Arts and Sciences Dean Jen Riley, since the gift was a bequest, the University will receive funding to continue the scholarship for years to come. She said this is an exciting opportunity for students, especially because it supports the female students in the school.
“What I love about it is that it supports women students and provides a way to help [them] succeed and build careers in communication and media the way that she did,” Riley said. “This is the sort of giving back that I think has a transformative impact on our students’ lives.”
Harrington School Director Adam Roth also expressed his joy for the scholarship opportunity for Harrington students.
“The gift is both an inspiring gesture of generosity, and resounding validation of our shared commitment to educate a new generation of women leaders who will work across a range of media platforms in their respective communication careers,” Roth said.
Adams worked, most notably, as a newscaster for one of Rhode Island’s TV broadcast stations, WPRI, for 21 years. Riley said that this gift acts as a representation of her devotion to the state and the communications fields.
“What she was looking to do was to give back in the state that has really become her adopted home state,” Riley said. “She saw value in giving back to the flagship institution in the state.”
This gift is also recognition of the Harrington School being a potential leading communications school in the country, Roth said.
“This is a gift coming from someone who was a real leader in the world of broadcast news and journalism and communication,” Roth said. “We’re proud to associate our name with hers and all of the accomplishments that she has had in her career.”
Riley said that having scholarship opportunities, such as the one Adams’s gift created, encourages the students to thrive and succeed while not having to worry as much about the affordability of their college career.
“I think the key thing is, and everyone is having this conversation, how do we make high education affordable?” Riley said. “I think that the more that we can build scholarships for students, it takes the pressure off of [them] of trying to find money for books or working all the time, so that students can really focus on their educational experience.”
Sophomore public relations student Kelsey Young was also excited to hear about the scholarship and it’s support of women in the communications fields.
“I think this is a great step to encourage female students to pursue careers in media,” Young said. “Empowerment of women and the role of female leaders are such hot topics right now, but in a time when everyone is telling girls they ‘can’ or ‘should,’ a scholarship like this shows them how it really is possible. This could give the next female media professionals the boost of confidence that will help them to be successful.”