The Alabama Broadcasters Association (ABA), the official voice of the broadcasting industry in Alabama, awarded three Alabama State University communications majors with scholarships totaling $3,000 ($1,000 each).
Seniors Azigza Hussen, Miracle Mims and Amayah Williams were awarded the scholarships during a luncheon, held in their honor on Nov. 17 in the John Garrick Hardy Center Ballroom.

Last spring, the university received $50,000 from the ABA, some of which was used for an endowment scholarship for the department of communications.
This semester the faculty decided to give three seniors $3,000 in scholarship funds.
To qualify for the scholarship award, students were required to be a junior or senior, and possess a 3.0 grade point average or above. In addition, students were required to submit any forms of work that they had completed while in the program.
The students were evaluated by a faculty panel of judges including Kimberly Baker, Ph.D., Ivon Alcime, Ph.D., Eric Knox and Jermal Allen.
Knox explained the panel’s decision to choose these students.
“We gave every student in the department that applied for it an opportunity,” he said. “We decided that these three were great representatives of our department, as they were able to show us the work they had done for this opportunity.”
Hussen was thrilled to learn he had been awarded a scholarship.
“Winning this award and being recognized means a lot,” he said. “This gives me a sign that I am on the right track where I should be. It’s kind of an opportunity for me to focus on the skills that I enjoy.”
He also thanked the faculty who thought enough of his work to select him.
“Thank you to all the faculty and staff members that chose me from all the amazing students,” he said. “I’m just so grateful to be recognized.”
Mims talked about her immediate reaction to winning the scholarship.
“I was honestly surprised, because I doubted myself,” she said. “With me being new to this field I obviously put in a lot of hard work, and I’m glad to have been recognized for it.”
Williams explained how this scholarship could help her in the future.
“This is a very great day for me,” she said. “I am about to graduate next spring, so this will really help me further my education and career in broadcast. It will help me grow and learn as much as I can before I go off into the real world.”
William Russell Robinson, Ph.D., chairman of the department of communications believes these scholarships are just the beginning.
“I would like to see us (the department) identify and work with other partnerships like the Alabama Broadcaster Association to bring external funds to our department, as well as expose our graduates to the numerous opportunities that the world offers to our students,” he said. “I also understand that we were fortunate enough to receive a donation of $100,000 from one of our alumni, and I want to make sure that those funds will help our students to become valuable assets to the community-at-large.
He continued.
“These kinds of partnerships will let people know that we have talented and intelligent students that we are preparing for the work force., and hopefully, those partnerships will produce jobs.”
The ABA has proudly served the broadcasting industry in Alabama for more than 65 years. It provides programs and services beneficial to the individual broadcaster and to its members as a group.