Name: Ava Thompson
Year in school: Sophomore
Major: Multiplatform Journalism
Minor: Science, Technology, Ethics and Policy (S.T.E.P.)
Hometown: Chicago, IL
Ava is a producer for Capital News Service, a video production intern for the university's office of marketing and communications, a replay operator for Big Ten Network Plus and a member of the National Press Photographers Association. Also, she is a camera operator for Veritas Films, a short film club on campus. She helped cover the 2022 local, state and federal midterm elections for the Diamondback after being on the housing, transportation and dining beat. She has freelanced for Block Club Chicago, a non-profit news organization in Chicago, and other news organizations on campus. Her high school newspaper won first place in a Scholastic Press Association of Chicago competition while she was Editor-In-Chief in 2021. She aspires to either be a producer or a Multimedia Journalist, covering local and national politics.
Ava is a 2023 recipient of the Francis J. Cormier White House Correspondents’ Association Scholarship in the Philip Merrill College of Journalism. Established in 1991 by the White House Correspondents’ Association, this award was renamed in 1994 to honor the memory of Francis J. Cormier, who for two decades exemplified the best qualities of White House correspondents with a blend of gentleness, humor and professionalism that endeared him to the readers of his dispatches for The Associated Press. This renewable scholarship is awarded to four undergraduate students. The scholarship is awarded to one new incoming freshman each year and then it follows the student throughout their time at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism. Each year there will be a freshman, sophomore, junior and senior, only one student changes each year.