SU CMC gets scholarship donation for community journalism

Genno Gabriel Z. Rabaya, a third-year student of the College of Mass Communication (CMC), is SU’s first Rosario-Braid Scholarship Fund, Inc. scholar.

Silliman University (SU) is one of five universities in the country chosen to implement the Rosario-Braid Scholarship for Community Journalism beginning in the first semester of academic year 2024-2025. The two-year scholarship worth P240k each is funded by the Rosario-Braid Scholarship Fund, Inc. (RBSFI), a joint project of the Rosario-Braid family and the Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication (AIJC). 

The first batch of scholars was chosen from the incoming third-year students of RBSFI’s partner universities. The students are among the top five in their class, are active in extra-curriculars, and are inclined toward community media. The RBSFI scholarship primarily aims to “cultivate a new generation of community journalists who are equipped with the necessary tools, knowledge, and ethical principles to effectively cover local government affairs.” Thus, beyond financial support, it also provides grantees with mentorship and supplementary training, research and reporting projects, and networking and collaboration opportunities until they complete their program.

RBSFI donors and participating universities meet over Zoom.

The enhanced scholarship grant is the brainchild and commitment of Dr. Florangel Rosario-Braid, Filipina writer, educator, artist, and constitutionalist, who was a member of the Philippine Constitutional Commission of 1986. She served as president and executive dean of AIJC and is currently its president emeritus. 

SU’s first RBSFI scholar is Genno Gabriel Z. Rabaya, a third-year student of the College of Mass Communication (CMC) who belongs to the upper 3 percent of his class. A campus journalist in the last two years, Genno is the editor-in-chief of the Weekly Sillimanian, the Philippines’ longest running campus newspaper founded in 1903.

RBSFI scholars in the other partner institutions are: Adonna C. Nilo of the Visayas State University; Ma. Rizza D. Francisco, Bicol University; Fayzah Inshira Ala, Mindanao State University; Clifford James L. Danduan, University of Mindanao. A sixth grantee is graduate student Maria Jesusa Legua, An MA Communication student of Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication. (MBQuiamco, CMC, Silliman University)