2013-2014 Recipients
Below are profiles of the Headliners Foundation’s 2013-2014 scholarship recipients. To read how the scholarships benefitted one of our recipients, please click here.
Founders’ Scholar
A sophomore at the University of Texas at Austin, Jori Epstein is pursuing a double major in Plan II Honors and Journalism. As a Daily Texan staff member, Jori works as a sports writer, copy editor, and occasional opinions columnist. She has also served as a Dallas Morning News Student Voices Columnist and a contributing writer for the Texas Jewish Post. After two years contributing articles to Dallas’ homeless newspaper Street Zine, Jori continues to pursue social justice opportunities through writing and editing.
Founders’ Scholar
Larisa Manescu is originally from Romania, but she’s lived the majority of her life in Canada, the United States, and Argentina. Now a junior majoring in journalism and international relations and global studies, she has been an opinion columnist for The Daily Texan since she first stepped onto campus. Her interests lie in foreign correspondent journalism and investigative reporting.
George Christian Scholar
Andrew Messamore is a junior at The University of Texas at Austin studying sociology and journalism. He has previously worked as an editorial intern for the legislative bureau of The San Antonio Express-News and is currently serving as public relations director for Sociological Insight, UT’s peer reviewed undergraduate journal of sociology. Prior to this fall, Andrew worked as an editor and reporter at The Daily Texan for five semesters.
Founders’ Scholar
Ryan “Mac” McCann is a sophomore Plan II Honors, Religious Studies and History triple-major at The University of Texas at Austin. The Dallas native is currently a columnist for The Horn, an Austin-based online publication, and a staff writer for The Texas Travesty, which is the largest student-produced humor publication in the country. He also interned with the Dallas Observer, where he covered mostly music. His articles have also appeared in The Dallas Morning News, the Austin American-Statesman,The Huffington Post and The Daily Texan.
Founders’ Scholar
Catherine McKee is a junior journalism major at Texas Tech University. She has worked for her university newspaper, The Daily Toreador, for three semesters. During that time, Catherine served as news reporter and reported on City Council meetings and interviewed politicians, such as Sen. Ted Cruz. Catherine also served as news editor, a position she currently holds, and summer editor-in-chief. She graduates in December 2014.
Texas Associated Press Broadcasters Scholar
Jody Serrano is a journalism senior at the University of Texas at Austin. She began her journalism career as a features writer for The Daily Texan, the campus newspaper, and eventually became News Editor. During her time at UT, Serrano also worked as a reporting intern for the metro department at the Austin American-Statesman and wrote about public and higher education at The Texas Tribune. While at the Tribune, Serrano was published in The New York Times. She is currently a reporting intern at KUT News and will graduate in May 2014.
Founders’ Scholar
Edgar Walters is a Plan II junior at The University of Texas at Austin. He has worked as a political correspondent at the Berliner Zeitung, a daily newspaper in Berlin, and as a public affairs intern at the Harry Ransom Center, a humanities research archive on the UT campus. He has worked for two semesters as an associate editor at The Daily Texan, and is currently an intern at The Texas Tribune. Click here for an interview with Walters.
Founders’ Scholar
Laura Wright is a senior studying Plan II Honors and Biology at the University of Texas at Austin. Previously, she has worked as an Editorial Intern at Texas Monthly and a senior writer and regular columnist at The Daily Texan. She is currently the Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Texan. Click here for an interview with Wright.
2013-2014 Headliners Scholarship Recipients
