Announcing the 2019 Eugene Jarvis Recipient
In 2015, a generous gift by game developer Eugene Jarvis established the Eugene Jarvis Media Innovation Scholarship, in support of undergraduate students learning to critically analyze and help shape developments in new media.
Recognizing that education has become increasingly expensive and that students as a result are motivated to make educational decisions based on future job prospects, Jarvis hopes to promote intellectual exploration. “The undergraduate experience is the most formative in education,” Eugene Jarvis has said. “It’s the one time in your life you have an open mind and are absorbing knowledge while trying to find your mission on earth […] College is the ultimate kickstarter. I want to give students the freedom to learn the tools that will allow them to make something of their lives.”
This year, the Jarvis Scholarship has been awarded to Fionce Siow!
Fionce is a Media Studies major and a communications assistant at the Center. Fionce has taken a suite of new media classes, including our graduate level Questioning New Media, and has been involved in every major BCNM lecture and conference for the past three years.
From Fionce:
I am currently a junior majoring in media studies, in addition to possessing Certificates of Entrepreneurship & Technology and New Media. I have always been fascinated by people -- who they are, what they do and the driving force behind it all. That is why I aspire to enter the tech industry for brand storytelling. This passion has translated across my experiences as an assistant for BCNM, a social media media marketing consultant for UC Berkeley, an employee branding intern for PayPal and a public relations intern for Tesla. I am incredibly grateful for this scholarship as a low-income, first-generation student, especially since I have historically struggled to prioritize either my finances or my academics. The Eugene Jarvis Scholarship offers me the privilege of time: taking less hours to work and more time to study, socialize and even sleep. It is truly an honor to be among a long line of distinguished recipients!
The Eugene Jarvis Scholarship is supported by the Ruth Johnson Scholarship Match Program, which provides a dollar for dollar match for gifts to new endowed scholarships. This match was made possible through the bequest of Ruth Johnson, who graduate with honors from UC Berkeley in 1938. She completed graduate work and obtained her teaching credential the following year. She taught French and Spanish in public high schools for 30 years. Ruth survived her husband Milton, a U.S. Army Veteran. During their marriage the Johnsons lived in a number of places in the US and Japan. Ruth was motivated to benefit undergraduate students with scholarships when she learned about the increasing difficulty many students had paying for their Berkeley education – something she treasured throughout her life.