Communication major Gabriella Servello ’14 was awarded a scholarship funded by the Charter Charitable Foundation in conjunction with New Hampshire Public Television. The award was presented to Servello at the “Women of Influence” luncheon, hosted by Charter Trust and Charter Charitable Foundation, on April 11 at the Bedford Village Inn in Bedford, NH.
Any full time junior pursuing a bachelor degree in communication or related media fields at a four year institution in New Hampshire was encouraged to apply for the scholarship. This award was intended to be given to a student who shows potential in media and communication, specifically in public broadcasting. The Foundation found that Servello possesses the qualities, opinions, and experiences they desired for the scholarship recipient.
In his letter of recommendation, Fr. Jerome Day, O.S.B. described Servello as intelligent, creative, affable, enthusiastic, and professional. Fr. Jerome is the advisor for the Saint Anselm Crier, which is how he met Servello. She began writing for the Crier during her sophomore year at Saint Anselm College, and was promoted to a Copy Editor position for her junior year. Servello has been named the News Editor for her upcoming senior year.
The judges in the selection process were particularly intrigued with Servello’s statements that “critical and analytical media are essential to maintaining freedom and liberties in any society” and that “public broadcasting can carry the torch of objectivity to new heights.”
Students were asked to submit writing samples in addition to their application and faculty recommendations, and the judges found Servello’s eloquent writing to be very strong, as well as a testament to her academic abilities. Servello had submitted pieces that she had done extensive research on before having them published in the Crier.
In addition to her experience with the Crier, Servello has also done three internships. The first internship was during the summer before her sophomore year as a Public Relation Intern for the Alzheimer’s Association in Bedford, New Hampshire. While interning Servello advertised and helped organized events, such as the Make a Link Golf Tournament and Walk to End Alzheimer’s, and made phone calls to potential donors. During winter break of her sophomore year, Servello interned for CBS News for the New Hampshire Primary, and her most recent internship was for Channel 9 News—WMUR over the summer before her junior year.
Servello applied for a few internships for this upcoming summer, and she plans on using the scholarship money to help pay for any internship costs, as the internships she applied for are unpaid.
After the Women of Influence luncheon, Kathryn Woodfin, Managing Director of Charter Charitable, offered Servello a couple of unique opportunities for either this upcoming summer or fall. The first of which would be for Servello to appear on a 15 minute segment of Charter Charitable’s talk radio show, “Money Basics”, to discuss journalism in today’s world, and the second would be to write an article for Understanding Investments, Charter Charitable’s magazine.
Charter Trust, founded in 1984, was originally a small investment company. They now have six offices throughout New Hampshire and serve clients in 43 states and 3 countries. In 2004, Charter Charitable was founded to provide individuals and organizations a means to direct charitable funds to the appropriate people.