Specht is SBU Murray Scholar

St. Bonaventure University senior Charles J. Specht has been named the school’s eighth Jim Murray Memorial Foundation Scholar.

Specht is one of five winners of the foundation’s annual nationwide essay contest among students from 28 invited universities with strong journalism programs. Each of the winners receives a $5,000 scholarship in memory of the late sportswriter Jim Murray.

St. Bonaventure has had more Murray Scholars than any other participating university since the foundation was established in 1999.

“Charlie is an outstanding student and certainly deserving of the award,” said Lee Coppola, dean of the Russell J. Jandoli School of Journalism and Mass Communication at St. Bonaventure. “His selection for the coveted Murray scholarship shows once again that St. Bonaventure ranks with the best in the world of journalism education.”

Specht, an editor with The Bona Venture, St. Bonaventure’s student newspaper, said he entered the university as “a green freshman with an interest in the craft” of writing. He credits his growth to the “encouragement and comradeship” of his colleagues at the school paper, the “compassionate guidance” of the faculty of the Jandoli School, and the encouragement of alumni. “I’m honored to represent the Jandoli School and St. Bonaventure. I’ve been truly blessed with the opportunity to learn from the most accomplished, passionate and down-to-earth people I’ve ever met,” he said.

A native of Marilla, N.Y., and a graduate of Iroquois High School, Specht is a journalism/mass communication major and history minor. He is an advisory editor at The Bona Venture, where he has been a staff member since fall of 2006. He previously served as the paper’s sports editor, managing editor and editor-in-chief. He is working this summer as a features intern at The Buffalo News and has served internships with the Buffalo Bills and the Olean Times Herald.

Specht is also captain and president of St. Bonaventure’s club rugby team, a student leader and volunteer at the university’s Mt. Irenaeus Franciscan retreat, and a former resident assistant in a residence hall.

Linda McCoy-Murray, president and founder of the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation, said the list of Murray Scholars grows to 68 with the addition of this year’s honorees.

“We are cultivating the crème of the crop at prestigious journalism schools in the nation,” she said. “The Murray Scholars are marvelous ambassadors for the Foundation and inspire each other to strive for a higher standard in their writing and journalistic integrity, especially in this new age of electronic media.”

McCoy-Murray established the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation to perpetuate her late husband’s memory and his love and dedication to his extraordinary career in journalism. Murray, who died Aug. 16, 1998, began his illustrious career at the New Haven (Conn.) Register after graduating from Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., in 1943. After a stint at the now extinct Los Angeles Examiner, he joined Time & Life (now Time, Inc.).

In 1954, while the Hollywood cinema correspondent for Time magazine, Murray became one the founders of Sports Illustrated. He joined the Los Angeles Times in 1961. Murray won a Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 1990, and won the National Sportswriter of the Year Award 14 times. His outstanding work landed him a spot in the writers’ wing in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., in 1988.

Joining Specht as new Murray Scholars this year are Amanda Anderson of the University of Maryland; Alyssa Rainbolt, University of Kansas; Andrew Pentis, Arizona State University; and Denise Poventud, Trinity College-Hartford.

The sports journalists judging this year’s competition were Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times; Bob Ford, Philadelphia Inquirer; Nancy Gay, FanHouse.com-NFL and AOL-Time Warner; Tom Keegan, Lawrence Journal World; and Jay Privman, the Daily Racing Form. Only the students’ names appeared on their essays, and not their school affiliations.

Grants from the McCormick Foundation, St. Louis Rams, NFL Charities, Linda McCoy-Murray, and private donations provided this year's scholarships.

For more information on the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation, visit www.jimmurrayfoundation.org.

Emailed from Tom Missel, Director of Media Relations/Marketing

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