VCU Student Receives 2014 Scholarship

Brittany Nicholson, a sophomore at Virginia Commonwealth University, is the 2014 recipient of the Virginia Press Women Foundation’s annual Agnes Cooke Scholarship.

Nicholson was recognized at the fall conference of Virginia Professional Communicators, with which the foundation is affiliated, at the Westwood Club in Richmond on Sat., Oct. 11. The VPW Foundation awards a scholarship every year to a deserving Virginia college student who is interested in pursuing a career in communications. Nicholson received a $1,000 scholarship and a year’s membership in VPC.

Nicholson, of Chesterfield, Va., is a mass communications major at VCU. She plans to pursue a career in broadcast journalism.

“I am so honored to receive this scholarship,” she said. “This will help me with the mounting costs of college and help take away some of the burden placed on my parents.”

Randy West, Nicholson’s TV/Film Production teacher at Meadowbrook High School, describes Nicholson “as an amazing person.” Nicholson received several awards for her work in Meadowbrook’s media program, and she ended her freshmen year at VCU on the Dean’s List with a 3.71 grade point average.

“Brittany is the type of student that every teacher dreams of having in class,” West wrote in his recommendation. “Her work ethic, respectfulness, character, intelligence and openness are unmatchable!”

Virginia Professional Communicators, formerly known as Virginia Press Women, is affiliated with the National Federation of Press Women. The VPW Foundation was created in 1992 to administer the scholarship, which is named after a charter member of the organization who served as president from 1964-66.