Scholarships
Since 2008, The Maneater’s scholarship board comprised of five alumni has awarded $28,500 in scholarships to outstanding journalists.
2025 Scholarship Dates
January 13, 2025: Applications and fliers announcing the $2,500 scholarship will be posted. February 28, 2025: Application deadline. All applications must be received by Mizzou Student Media Coordinator Mark Onwiler by 5 p.m. April 15, 2025: Applicant will be notified of the results of the selection committee. Criteria: Applicants must have worked for The Maneater for one semester. The applicant must have at least a 2.0 GPA. Scholarship will be credited to the recipient’s University account for the Fall 2025 semester. Seniors graduating in May or past winners are not eligible.
Apply
The applicant must email all of the required documents (application form, samples of work, 500 word essay, letter of recommendation) to Mark Onwiler by 5 p.m. on February 28th. Complete the application and email by February 28th. Please contact Mark Onwiler with any questions.
Donations
If you would like to donate, you can go to MU’s Giving to Mizzou page and select “Other” when prompted and specify “Maneater Scholarship” in the comment box.
Previous Scholarship Winners
Emma Rae Gerwen: The Maneater has been the greatest outlet for me while pursuing photojournalism at MU. I joined The Maneater my sophomore year of college and it was the best decision I ever made. I have been given countless opportunities to capture events, stories, places and people over this past year as a photojournalist. I have learned so much about photography and the operations of a newsroom from being a part of The Maneater. I have been able to build my skills as a photographer, use amazing equipment and talk to some of the most interesting people. The money from this scholarship will help me continue to pursue this career path and tell the stories of the people of Columbia and MU. I am so grateful for the opportunities that The Maneater has given me and to be the recipient of this scholarship.
Sophie Chappell: Hello! My name is Sophie Chappell, and I was the Editor-in-Chief of The Maneater for the 2021-22 school year. Before obtaining this position, I was a writer for the University News section, and then I took over when my editor Lucy Caile decided to head to KOMU November of my freshman year. Throughout my two years at The Maneater, I learned a lot about myself, my leadership style and how to work alongside a large group of people (our editorial board was made up of 36 individuals!) I made some of my best friends through the Editorial Board, and while this year presented me and my Managing Editor, Campbell Biemiller, with a fair amount of challenges, we persevered and made it to the other side. The Maneater will be one of the most memorable parts of my time here at Mizzou, and I am so grateful for all of the opportunities I received during my term!
Cassandra Allen: Coming to campus as a freshman, The Maneater was my home. It allowed me to grow more confident as a person and leader. The newsroom is where I made lifelong friends and learned about my passion in design. It’s been the stepping stone to internships, scholarships and jobs that I never would have had the opportunity to pursue before my time at The Maneater. My experience at The Maneater also allowed me to excel in my classes and be a competitor in the journalism field. Student journalism and the experience it provides is invaluable, and this scholarship allows me to grow as an individual, student and journalist.
Katie Rosso: The Maneater scholarship allowed me to pursue my academic dreams of a religious studies major with a journalism minor. My time at The Maneater taught me how to be a leader, and it taught me how to be confident in myself. I will always consider my time at The Maneater to be extremely special to me, and I made some lifelong friends while on staff.
Taylor Blatchford: Being involved with The Maneater has been the most fulfilling part of my first two years of college. The Maneater has given me invaluable journalism experience and friendships, but most importantly, it’s been a place to challenge myself and think about journalism in new ways. I’ve grown as a journalist and a person from my time there, and it’s a great honor to be chosen as this year’s scholarship recipient. The scholarship will be used for my tuition costs.
Covey Son: I feel so lucky that I got to be a part of The Maneater from my first day on campus. The paper has been a home away from home and a second family to me. I’ve learned things I wouldn’t have learned sitting in a classroom and met some of my closest friends inside that newsroom. These are memories and experiences that I will no doubt remember more profoundly than any other from college. The Maneater has already given me so much, and I am truly honored and gratefully to be selected for this scholarship. The scholarship will be used for my tuition costs.
Molly Duffy: I could not be more honored to receive this year’s scholarship. The Maneater has given me so much already: writing and editing experience, friends, mentors. I’ve probably spent more time in the newsroom than anywhere else on campus — including my apartment. I’ve learned more at The Maneater than in any MU classroom, and I’ll be forever grateful. Working as a beat writer and editor for The Maneater has defined my freshman and sophomore years, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. The generous scholarship will be used for general tuition costs.
Jill Deutsch: The Maneater – more than either my freshman dorm room or sophomore year apartment – has become my home. It’s where I’ve interviewed countless sources, where I’ve written hundreds of thousands of words of copy and where I’ve made my greatest, most invaluable memories. Being a part of The Maneater has challenged me to balance school and friendships with editing and writing, but doing so has made me a better reporter, writer and person. I truly have no idea where I would be without this paper, and I cannot express the extent of my gratitude for being chosen as the next Maneater Scholarship recipient. The scholarship will be used for my tuition costs.
Lizzie Johnson: To say that I live at The Maneater is an understatement. I have spent hours in the office giving edits, receiving edits, designing and — let’s be honest — even sleeping. I am so grateful and honored to be awarded this year’s scholarship. This newsroom has given me a comfortable environment to grow as a writer in addition to experimenting with different journalism outlets, like photography and design. While my journalism classes have taught me technical knowledge pertinent to my field, my time at The Maneater has taught me so much through hands-on experience. The people I have met, interviewed and worked with have shaped my freshman year. The scholarship will be put to good use for tuition costs.
Nate Atkins: It’s a little ironic that I type this paragraph from a Maneater computer, even though I no longer work here, but that is what this newsroom has come to offer me: a place to learn, work, laugh and sometimes even live. My experiences at The Maneater the last two years have been irreplaceable, from working as a sports beat reporter to taking editorial board positions at the copy and sports desks. The staffers, editors and sources I have met along the way have made the experience, and I could not be more honored to share The Maneater’s fifth scholarship with the great Lizzie Johnson. This scholarship will go to pay off my general tuition.
Allison Prang: Saying The Maneater newsroom is my home away from home, barely does this institution justice, and I could not be more honored to be the fourth recipient of the scholarship this student newspaper offers. My parents’ calls to me are usually full of questions like, “Yes, I know you love the newsroom, but how is school?” And while school is always good, I have learned more at The Maneater than anywhere about what I want to do. I could not have asked for a better staff to serve as my college family and my circle of student mentors and friends. I was looking for a place and school where I could truly eat, sleep and breathe journalism — I found that here. The generous scholarship was used toward my general tuition costs here at MU.
Angela Case: I worked for The Maneater as a staff writer and occasional online assistant for two years, until I moved on to Journalism 4804-Convergence Reporting. J4804 is one of the toughest classes in the journalism school, but my time with the Maneater made it easier. The paper gave me experience tracking down sources and rewriting stories until they were perfect, and this knowledge came in handy as I reported for the Missourian, KBIA and Newsy.com. The reporting this semester is brutal, but after that, it gets better. Working for the paper gave me fundamental experience in journalism, and the scholarship helped cover the cost of study abroad tuition, bringing me one step closer to living the dream.
Kirstin Shew: I worked at the Maneater starting as an advertising representative in 2007 until 2009. I then became the sales manager my senior year, 2009-2010. The scholarship money came at a great time for me because my dad had just lost his job and I took on more financial responsibilities
Justin Myers: I worked at The Maneater for three years, including five semesters on the editorial board. Spending so much time in the newsroom while also working on two degrees (journalism and electrical engineering) didn’t leave a lot of time for outside work, so the scholarship certainly helped offset the financial burden of attending MU. Working at The Maneater gave me the chance to learn a great deal about journalism before I was allowed to take any of the staff classes in the J school, and I was able to try a little of everything instead of being confined to just one main beat for a semester. The Maneater also is where I first got involved in Web development, which has helped me learn the skills I’ll be using daily at the NewsHour. I also met plenty of people with whom I still collaborate and keep in contact. While I’m glad to be going other places and do other things, my time at The Maneater definitely helped me figure out where I want to be in the field of journalism and gain the skills to get there.
