Recently, the Fresno Advertising Federation Foundation (FAFF), in conjunction with the Fresno State Alumni Association and the Fresno State Foundation, announced the creation of two new scholarships to be awarded to graphic design students in the Department of Art, Design and Art History and students in the Media, Communications, and Journalism (MCJ) departments starting in the 2023-2024 academic year.
“This scholarship endowment represents our Advertising community’s commitment to helping to uplift our promising Graphic Design students and MCJ students as they become our future Advertising Industry leaders,” said Rebecca Barnes, FAFF board member and graphic design lecturer at Fresno State. “We are thrilled to have facilitated these two new scholarships from the Fresno Advertising Foundation that will benefit our graphic design students and our MCJ students for generations to come.”
The FAFF-endowed scholarship is the first of its kind available exclusively to graphic design students, and while other MCJ scholarships exist, most are available exclusively for journalism options. Both FAFF scholarships will be given to students who are majors in their respective programs and maintain a 2.5 or higher grade point average, with preference given to transfer students.
“We are so excited that this is the first ever graphic design endowed scholarship at Fresno State! This endowment is a testament to the significance and the role that graphic design is playing in the future of the advertising industry,” Barnes said.
“This scholarship is open to all four sequences in the MCJ department,” said Jan Edwards, FAFF board member and former MCJ lecturer. “These scholarships matter. They help get our students to fulfill their goals and become contributing members to our industry, university and community.”
Edwards said over two-thirds of the MCJ students work while being full-time students. Once students graduate, there are a wide variety of inspiring careers that await MCJ and graphic design graduates, such as advertising and public relations professionals, journalism, film and media, advertising agencies and freelance work.
“We are thrilled FAFF is paying it forward to MCJ and graphic design students,” Edwards said.
“The students, faculty and staff thank the Fresno Advertising Federation Foundation for creating the very first scholarship endowment for graphic design students in the Department of Art, Design and Art History in the College of Arts and Humanities,” Moon-ja Yunouye-Petz, College of Arts and Humanities director of development said. “Thank you to Art Reker, Jan Edwards, Rebecca Barnes, Karen Franz and the FAFF board for making this possible!”
Founded in 2005, FAFF is a non-profit foundation supported by advertising agencies, advertisers, media companies, printing companies, media producers and citizens. The foundation believes advertising and marketing are significant forces in Central California and a realistic understanding of how advertising and marketing work and what they contribute to our social and economic life is important for all. FAFF’s mission is to be the Central California advertising and marketing industry’s charitable provider of educational resources and public service activities. They aim to enhance the understanding of advertising and marketing as essential components of our economic and social system.
The College of Arts and Humanities at Fresno State 