Concordia scores major gift from Sportsnet

Montreal, December 9, 2015 — Athletes at all levels strive to set records. Thanks to the generosity of Canadian all-sports TV broadcaster Sportsnet, Concordia’s Department of Journalism has reached a career best of its own.

Sportsnet, which is owned by Rogers Media, is making a $650,000 donation to the journalism school — the biggest in the department’s history.

The new support will advance sports journalism at the university. “This exceptional gift shows how highly regarded our journalism program is,” says Concordia President Alan Shepard. “Sportsnet’s donation will ensure that tomorrow’s reporters, writers and commentators are ahead of the game.”

“We’re very impressed by the excellent programs in Concordia’s Department of Journalism,” says Scott Moore, president of Sportsnet and NHL Properties for Rogers Media. “Our goal is to elevate the training of great sports journalists across the country. It’s a time of extreme change and opportunity, which is very exciting. The people in school now are the ones who will create the new media ecosystem.”

Graduate and undergraduate support
The Sportsnet gift will help create 15 annual scholarships for the next five years, all based on academic merit: six scholarships of $3,000 each for undergraduate students, seven scholarships of $4,000 each for graduate diploma students and two scholarships of $6,000 each for graduate students.

Over the same time period it will also offer two annual prizes of $8,500 each, awarded to students based on their sports journalism portfolios. “Part of what makes this gift so exciting is that it supports all three levels of our journalism program: undergraduate, diploma and master’s degree,” says André Roy, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science.

“It’s an amazing contribution to the program, a chance to support our students,” says Brian Gabrial, chair of Concordia’s Department of Journalism, noting his department is celebrating its 40^th anniversary. “Donations from news organizations are important to us because they allow us to be innovative in our curriculum — to be creative.”

Sportsnet was already a long-time supporter of Concordia students through a number of awards and scholarships, including the Rogers Sportsnet Scholarship in Communication Studies and Journalism, worth $2,400.

“Many students find it hard to pay tuition and make ends meet at the same time,” says Samantha Mileto, an undergraduate journalism student and former sports editor of the student newspaper The Concordian. “I cannot thank Sportsnet enough for its major contribution toward scholarships for my fellow journalism students.”

The long list of Concordia journalism graduates working in sports journalism includes Geoff Baker, BA 91, sports reporter for the Seattle Times, Stephanie Myles, BA 92, writer and blogger for Yahoo Sports, and Arpon Basu, GrDip 00, managing editor of NHL.com.