Waynesburg U. student awarded scholarship
Waynesburg University journalism student Kimmi Baston stands with her parents, Raymond and Barb Baston, after receiving the Press Club scholarship during the Golden Quill Awards banquet Thursday night in Pittsburgh.
Kimmi Baston, who is studying journalism at Waynesburg University, speaks during the Golden Quill Awards banquet after receiving the Press Club scholarship.
PITTSBURGH – Waynesburg University journalism student Kimmi Baston received a scholarship Thursday night from the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania during its annual awards banquet in Station Square.
The $2,500 Press Club scholarship is one of three journalism-related awards Baston, who just completed her junior year of college, received in the past few months.
She addressed hundreds of professional journalists who gathered for the 52nd annual Golden Quill Awards banquet that honors the best journalism in the region from 2015. Baston called the moment “very nerve-wrecking” but one she’ll always remember.
“I love telling the stories that other people can’t, or who don’t have the opportunity to tell,” Baston said after the banquet. “It’s an important profession and career.”
Baston, 20, of North Huntingdon, served last year as executive editor of the student-run The Yellow Jacket newspaper that publishes weekly. She began as a staff writer at the paper and has moved up the ranks.
“We have a staff (that) puts in so much time making it great for the campus and community,” she said of the newspaper. “Progressing from a staff writer to an executive editor has taught me so much.”
The newspaper’s adviser, communications professor Brandon Szuminsky, said Baston has grown in the three years at the university, although she was initially hesitant to join The Yellow Jacket. Now, Szuminsky said, she’s a mentor for other students coming into the program.
“It’s fun to look back at 18-year-old Kimmi and see the incredible journalist and incredible young woman she’s become,” he said. “We always knew she was incredibly talented from when she came to campus and we had high hopes for her from the beginning.”
Baston began showing an interest in journalism while attending Norwin High School and was encouraged by a teacher to work on that school’s paper before eventually deciding to pursue the major in college.
“I knew I loved Waynesburg already when I visited and saw how great the community department it,” she said.
In addition to the Press Club award, she also received a $2,500 scholarship this year from the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh and just learned this week she will be receiving $1,500 from the Pennsylvania Women’s Press Association.
Szuminsky called the scholarship “exciting, external validation” for both Baston and the school.
“Not only are we drawing good students, but giving them a good education while they’re here,” Szuminsky said. “Kimmi is a spectacular student. In many ways, she’s the student we love to have at Waynesburg.”
Baston plans to work as an intern in UPMC’s public relations office over the summer before returning to Waynesburg University for her senior year. She hopes to eventually land a job in journalism or public relations when she graduates next May.