The National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association, Northern California chapter, is pleased to announce the sixth annual Bob Ross Student Scholarship. Sponsored by the Bob Ross Foundation, the $2,500 scholarship honors Northern California students who demonstrate a commitment to the NLGJA mission. Recipients are honored at the NLGJA-NorCal Excellence in Journalism ceremony in October in San Francisco.

Scholarship recipients are also expected to embody the ideals of Bob Ross. Ross, a passionate advocate for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights and an AIDS activist, founded the Bay Area Reporter in 1971 in San Francisco. The Bay Area Reporter is one of the oldest known LGBT newspapers in the United States. Ross died in 2003, and the NLGJA-NorCal scholarship is named in his memory.

Please fill out the application form, available here.

CRITERIA To apply, students must:

• Be a native of Northern California or be studying in Northern California

• Be enrolled full-time in an institution of higher education

• Pursue a journalism-related field of study

• Demonstrate an outstanding commitment to NLGJA’s mission

NOTE: A candidate’s sexual orientation is NOT a selection criterion.

CHECK LIST To apply, students must include:

1) Completed application form

2) Résumé listing your educational background and work history

3) Personal essay 

• No more than 1,000 words 

• Typed, double-spaced 

• Explaining why you are pursuing journalism and why you deserve the scholarship. How do you demonstrate a commitment to NLGJA’s mission?

4) Three to five samples of your best work, electronic submissions preferred. 

5) Contact information for two references (people who know your academic and/or journalistic work)

DEADLINE: No entries will be accepted after Sept. 15, 2013. 

• Email to norcal@nlgja.org. Links and attachments acceptable. 

• Clips in different media acceptable (i.e. photos, videos and articles in one application)

QUESTIONS Can be directed to norcal@nlgja.org