National Press Club names 2025 scholarship winners

WASHINGTON, June 6, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Press Club, the world's leading professional organization for journalists, has chosen five exemplary students as the recipients of its scholarships honoring promising future journalists serving their communities.

The 2025 scholarship winners are:

• Catherine Deborah (CD) Davidson-Hiers, who was recognized with the Dennis and Shirley Feldman Fellowship. Davidson-Hiers is an environmental journalist and graduate student at the University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications. She founded the Florida Student News Watch in 2020 to support the development of young writers through mentorship and also serves as the membership resources coordinator at the Education Writers Association. Read more about Davidson-Hiers.
  
  
• Anjolina Fantaroni was recognized with the Wes Vernon Broadcast Scholarship. Fantaroni is a rising senior at Elon University, where she serves as the broadcast news director and a multimedia reporter at Elon News Network. Her coverage of Hurricane Helene received first place in "'best crisis coverage" from the College Media Association earlier this year. Read more about Fantaroni.
  
  
• Antara Gangwal was recognized with the Scholarship for Journalism Diversity Honoring Julie Schoo. In summer 2024, Gangwal participated in the Mosaic Journalism Program. During the previous summer, she was a student reporter at the School of the New York Times, where she reported on climate change and the environment. Read more about Gangwal.
  
  
• Jacqueline Munis was recognized with the Lewis Scholarship, which provides housing and a stipend to support a student journalist of color interning at a news media outlet in Washington, D.C. Munis will graduate from Stanford University in June and has accepted a summer internship with POLITICO. At the Stanford Daily, Munis led the revival of an equity-focused news desk covering underrepresented members of the Stanford community. Read more about Munis.
  
  
• Sonja Woerner was recognized with the Richard G. Zimmerman Scholarship for high school seniors. As editor-in-chief of her school's paper, The Torch, Woerner helped the publication receive several awards at the state and national levels. Woerner was also recognized as "Writer of the Year" by the Iowa High School Press Association and is a 2025 National Merit Scholarship Finalist. Read more about Woerner.

The National Press Club Journalism Institute administers the scholarships for the National Press Club. If you'd like to support the student-focused programs, please click here to donate.

About the Institute

The National Press Club Journalism Institute promotes an engaged global citizenry through an independent and free press, and equips journalists with skills and standards to inform the public in ways that inspire a more representative democracy. NPCJI is the nonprofit affiliate of the National Press Club.

About the Club

Founded in 1908, the National Press Club is the world's leading professional organization for journalists. With 3,000 members from nearly every leading news organization, the Club is a leading voice for press freedom in the U.S. and worldwide.

Press contact: Beth Francesco, Executive Director, National Press Club Journalism Institute, [email protected]

SOURCE National Press Club Journalism Institute