AMES, Iowa- Alex Connor, senior in journalism and mass communication, was selected as the 2018 Hugh S. Sidey Scholarship in Print Journalism.
Connor, a Davenport native, will receive $5,000 as well as an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C. this spring.
During her trip, Connor will attend the 2019 White House Correspondents’ Dinner and will be included among the White House Correspondents’ Association scholarship winners honored at the dinner. She will also meet with other members of the WHCA and other scholarship winners, according to The White House Historical Association.
Her winning essay, “The Precedent of the President,” was based on the news events happening at the time.
“With this particular president, it was relatively easy to draw inspiration from the divisiveness of the office and the media,” Connor said. “There’s been hundreds of years of precedent in terms of how those two positions operate and I believe that this current office has raised many questions and concerns about current structures.”
This scholarship was established in 2006 at Iowa State University. The late Hugh Sidey is a journalism graduate of the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication and spent his career covering presidents in Time magazine. This scholarship was established to keep alive Sidey’s legacy of reporting on the presidency.
“I’ve looked up to Hugh Sidey since first learning about the award and his legacy my freshman year,” Connor said. “I have always had aspirations to be a political reporter and this just further solidifies my love for the industry.”
Connor will graduate in May with her journalism degree and a minor in political science. She is currently the editor-in-chief of the Iowa State Daily and has interned at USA TODAY and The Gazette.