The Illinois News Broadcasters Association (INBA) is honoring two Eastern Illinois University (EIU) broadcasting students that have been selected to receive INBA Foundation Scholarships.
This years scholarship winners are Olivia Bennet, from Charleston, who is a junior at EIU, and Andrew Spaid, from Lake of the Hills, a senior at EIU set to graduate this spring.
The winners will be honored on April 18th at the INBA’s Best of Broadcast Awards event, set to take place in Champaign. The two winners were hand selected by a panel of INBA members who evaluated around 20 scholarships.
Bennet is majoring in broadcast journalism. She has worked previously for WOIO-TV in Cleveland. Bennet also was formerly a producer, anchor and investigative reporter for TruBlu Crime Streaming. She was a managing editor, anchor and reporter for WEIU-TV News Watch as well.
With this year’s award, Bennet is now a three-time INBA scholarship winner. Olivia will be taking home the INBA Fred “Fritz” Sorenson Scholarship. Sorenson was a longtime reporter and anchor for WKRS radio in Waukegan and WCIA-TV in Champaign.
Spaid is going for a dgree in TV and Video Production. Spaid has worked as a sports and news anchor, producer, and sports director for WEIU-TV. Spaid also was an on-air DJ for Hit Mix 88.9 WEIU. In addition to that experience, Spaid is currently a host and producer of the Anytime Sports Podcast, has work experience on the live sports production crew for ESPN+ and was a freelance camera operator for WQAD-TV.
Spaid is the winner of the INBA Don Brown Scholarship. Don Brown is the namesake for the INBA’s first-ever scholarship, given in 1963. Brown was instrumental in forming the INBA in 1955, with his experience from when he worked at radio stations in Iowa. Brown also taught at the University of Iowa, University of Illinois, and Arizona State University.
In addition to the awards, the winners are also set to receive an all expenses paid trip to the Best of Broadcast Awards.
For more Details on the INBA and its scholarships visit https://www.inba.net/
