Scholarships

Dianne Baumert-Moyik Journalism-Public Relations Scholarship Fund

About the Scholarship

This $1,000 scholarship, created through the generosity of Journalism graduate Dianne Baumert-Moyik, ’87, will help defray students’ non-tuition costs such as mandatory fees, food plans, parking, or on-campus housing costs. 

Criteria

• Students must have a declared major in the Communication Department
• Preference given to students in the B.A. in Journalism, B.A. in Public Relations and Advertising, and M.S. in Public Relations programs
• Preference given to those who plan a career in journalism and/or public relations
• Applicants must have an overall GPA of 2.75 or higher
• Preference given to those students who have active, ongoing, and demonstrated involvement in the Record student newspaper and/or the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) throughout their undergraduate career.
• Scholarship recipients will be selected by the department’s Student Enrichment Committee and the department chair. The decision on awarding the scholarship will rest with a majority vote of the committee. The recipient may receive the scholarship more than once but must apply annually and be considered the best candidate.

How To Apply

Apply through Buffalo State’s Campus Application Portal for Scholarships (CAPS). Application deadline is generally in mid-April; check CAPS for details.

About Dianne Baumert-Moyik

Dianne Baumert-Moyik, ’87, is a native Long Islander now living in Melbourne, Florida. She wishes to recognize and honor the opportunities she has been afforded in her lifetime and throughout her successful communications career, particularly at Northrop Grumman. Her earliest champions–her parents, James and Carol Baumert–supported her fervent desire in high school to graduate and pursue a career in journalism. Despite her parents’ challenge to pay for two teens in the same college at the same time, Dianne enrolled with her brother, Rich, at Buffalo State.

Her foundational communications skills, love for lifelong learning, and lasting friendships were forged at Buffalo State. The hands-on classroom learning experience through her journalism courses under the guidance of top professional faculty, her many years of extracurricular student activities in various reporter and editor roles at the Record, and her work-study position as a Student Union building manager were defining leadership moments for her.

Deborah Gallagher Barger Journalism Excellence Scholarship Fund

About the Scholarship

This $1,000 scholarship, created through the generosity of Communication graduate Deborah Gallagher Barger ’76, will be presented annually to an incoming or current Journalism student who demonstrates a commitment to journalistic integrity, objectivity, and accuracy.

Criteria

• First-year or current student who intends to declare a major in Journalism.
• Have an overall GPA of 3.0 or higher.
• Must submit an essay of at least 500 words addressing “Why Journalistic Integrity Is Important to Me.”
• Must provide a letter of recommendation from either a high school teacher who observed the student embracing these principles in class discussions, writing, for the school newspaper, etc. during their senior year of high school, or by a professor in the Buffalo State Communication Department if the student is already at Buffalo State.
• Preference will be given to a student working at the Buffalo State student newspaper, The Record, or if a first-year student, at the student’s high school newspaper.
• Scholarship recipients will be selected by faculty on the Communication Department’s Student Enrichment Committee and the department chair. 

How To Apply

• Apply through Buffalo State’s Campus Application Portal for Scholarships (CAPS). Application deadline is generally in mid-April; check CAPS for details.

About Deborah Gallagher Barger

A graduate of Buffalo State, Deborah Gallagher Barger completed her bachelor’s degree in Communications in 1976. In the fall of 1978, she left for Washington, DC to pursue a career in journalism and later, a master’s degree in Public Administration at American University (1993). She also completed post-graduate courses at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern, and the University of Maryland. 

In 1978, she became managing editor of the Armed Forces Journal International, a defense policy magazine. While a journalist, she wrote and published numerous articles, traveled frequently, made three parachute jumps into the Atlantic Ocean, and flew alongside pilots and crews of an F-15 fighter, B-52 bomber, and several helicopters. On the ground, she test drove the Army’s newest tank and crawled through mud pits at the Jungle Operations Training Course in Panama. At sea she landed aboard an aircraft carrier and, somewhat more precariously, hung from a rope-line to be transferred between ships heaving in the frigid North Sea. She also found time to marry fellow editor Millard Barger. 

In 1986, she decided to leave journalism for a career in government. For the next nearly 30 years, she served in senior positions at a number of federal agencies. She worked in the Pentagon as a speechwriter, had two tours on Capitol Hill, a three-year assignment at NATO in Brussels, and a year-long fellowship at RAND, a Washington area “think-tank.” 

During her time in government service, she won numerous awards, including recognition by President George W. Bush for her work on a Presidential Executive Order, and by Senator Susan Collins for her work on legislation responding to the findings of the 9/11 Commission. She also received a Distinguished Service Medal at the end of her career, as well as a meritorious service award from President Obama for “professionalism exemplifying the highest standards of public service.” 

After retiring from the federal government in 2015, she began her “encore career” as a blogger and writer of historical fiction. In 2023, she published her first novel, Virgin Snow, the story of a girl growing up on the West Side of Buffalo.

Dr. Charles A. Messner Scholarship

About the Scholarship
This annual $5,000 scholarship is awarded to a student majoring in the humanities; renewable for up to three additional years provided the recipient earns a 3.0 cumulative GPA and continues to have a declared major in a humanities program.

Criteria

• Applicants must be incoming freshmen in a humanities program including the English, Communication, Philosophy, or Modern & Classical Languages Departments
• Must be enrolled full-time at Buffalo State
• Must demonstrate financial need as defined by Buffalo State. 

How to Apply
Apply through Buffalo State’s Campus Application Portal for Scholarships (CAPS). Application deadline is generally in mid-March.

About Dr. Charles A. Messner
Dr. Charles A. Messner joined the faculty at Buffalo State in 1926 after serving in World War I as a second lieutenant in the U. S. Army Field Artillery. He completed his Ph.D. in comparative literature at Harvard University in 1928. During his tenure at Buffalo State, he taught courses in Latin, German, French, world literature, and linguistics. After retiring in 1963, he returned to the college as a lecturer in Latin from 1968 to 1971. A philanthropic man, Dr. Messner donated his entire salary during those final four years of his teaching career to the college for cash scholarships for deserving students.

Dr. Messner passed away in 1995 at the age of 103. His son, Charles A. Messner, Jr. and his wife, Lois, established the Dr. Charles A. Messner Scholarship Fund to honor his legacy. 
 

Society of Professional Journalists Scholarship

About the Scholarship
This scholarship (amount varies) is awarded annually by the Greater Buffalo International Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists to Greater Buffalo-area college students who are studying communications, along with professional journalists seeking additional academic training.

Criteria

• Applicants must be residents of Western New York, Northwestern Pennsylvania or Southern Ontario attending accredited colleges in the U.S. or Canada that offer courses to enhance journalism training; students who reside outside the chapter area who attend colleges in Western New York also are eligible.
• Open to undergraduates, graduate students, and working journalists.
• Evidence of competence in writing, broadcasting, or related journalistic skills and explanation of financial need are desirable.
• Applicants must include a statement outlining their motivation and evidence of commitment to a career in journalism and provide two letters of recommendation.

How to Apply
Visit the Society of Professional Journalists Buffalo Chapter Scholarship Fund's Facebook page to access the application. Application deadline is generally in late April. For details, contact Annemarie Franczyk.

May C. Randazzo Public Relations Scholarship

About the Scholarship
This is a $2,000 scholarship for undergraduate or graduate students with a declared major in communications with preference given to those planning to pursue a career in public relations.

Criteria

• Applicants must be undergraduate or graduate students at a college or university in the geographical area served by PRSA Buffalo Niagara with a declared major in the field of communications; preference given to those planning to pursue a career in public relations.
• Additional considerations: high level of scholastic achievement, active interest in community service, membership in the Public Relations Student Society of America, and undergraduates in their sophomore or junior years as well as graduate students.
• Previous Randazzo Scholarship winners are eligible to reapply as long as they continue to meet the criteria.

How to Apply

• Complete the online application form
• Provide a letter of recommendation
• Submit an essay demonstrating high scholastic achievement, interest in community service, and financial need.

Application deadline is generally in late May. For details, contact Deborah Silverman. 

About May C. Randazzo
May Randazzo was the public relations manager at Graphic Controls in Buffalo before she died in 1997 at age 57 after a brief illness. She was a past president of PRSA Buffalo Niagara, was named Outstanding Practitioner of the Year in 1991, and established the Public Relations Student Society of America chapter at Canisius College. The scholarship honors students who best demonstrate the ideals that Ms. Randazzo believed were key to the future of the public relations profession: leadership, community service, and scholastic achievement.
 

LAGRANT Foundation Scholarships in Public Relations, Advertising, & Marketing

About the Scholarships
The LAGRANT Foundation offers approximately 50 scholarships each year to ethnic minority undergraduate students ($2,500 each) and graduate students ($3,750 each). Scholarship recipients will receive a trip to New York City in May, where they will participate in career-building activities. These include a welcome dinner with a keynote speaker, three day-long career development workshops, and a scholarship & donor recognition reception. During these activities, students will have the opportunity to meet industry professionals, network, and gain exposure to the advertising, marketing, and public relations fields.

Criteria

• Applicants must be U.S. citizens, permanent residents or DACA recipients from one of the following ethnic groups: African American/Black, Asian American/Pacific Islander, Hispanic/Latino, or Native American/Alaska Native.
• Students must be full-time, have a minimum 3.0 GPA, and major in a field of study that has an emphasis on advertising, marketing, or public relations.
• Students must have at least one year to complete his/her degree from the time the scholarships are awarded in May and must be available to participate in the scholarship activities in May in New York City.

How to Apply

Apply online

Application deadline is generally in late February. For details, contact Deborah Silverman.