Communication Students Awarded the Ellen Abrams and Gauvreau Scholarships

(L-R) Peter Darby, Nicole Callender, and Marge Abrams

At a luncheon ceremony on April 19, sophomore Nicole Callender was awarded the Ellen Abrams Memorial Scholarship for 2012-13. The scholarship was started by the family of Ellen Abrams, a young, talented reporter at Channel 8 in New Haven who was killed by a motorist while jogging near her home. Peter Darby, Ellen’s widower, and her mother, Marge Abrams, were present at the ceremony to congratulate Callender.

Selected by the School of Communication faculty to receive the scholarship, Callender has an emphasis in media and journalism and a minor in English. She has served as a young critic participant at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) and has written reviews of various shows featured at the BAM theater. Currently working on a documentary about the romantic relationships of four young couples, Callender will be studying abroad in Cannes, France, in the fall.

In addition, four students were awarded Emile Gauvreau Scholarships for 2012-13. The Gauvreau Scholarship is awarded to Connecticut students who are majoring in communication and who have achieved academic excellence. This year the faculty chose Zachary Campbell, who will be a junior in the fall with an emphasis in media and journalism and a special interest in television production; Alyssa Defendi, who is completing her degree next year with an emphasis in advertising and public relations; sophomore Sarah Morin, whose emphasis is advertising and public relations and who is an active member of the Public Relations Student Society of America; and Quoron Walker, a junior with a double emphasis in media and journalism and advertising and public relations.