The nation’s largest television network for college students is going beyond its weekly programming by providing unique awards for its viewers.

MTV’s 24-hour college network mtvU has once again paired up with the Point Foundation, the first and largest national foundation to support academic achievement in higher education among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students by sponsoring a $10,000 scholarship created to assist these students.

“MtvU and the Point Foundation understand that paying for college isn’t easy and that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students face unique challenges that can make covering this financial burden even more difficult,” said Stephen Friedman, general manager of mtvU, in a press release. “We’re proud to join with the Point Foundation again and help empower LGBT students to realize their dreams.”

Some challenges the scholarship hopes to address include financial cutoffs by parents and job discrimination.

“I think it’s a great thing that mtvU would recognize LGBT issues to the extent that they would collaborate with the Point Foundation,” said sophomore Elywill Paja. “More than 50 percent of homeless youth are queer, and poverty is a big factor in that. For something like mtvU to get involved is a huge step to get the public aware of these issues that are very much invisible in terms of one people.”

Although the scholarship is geared toward LGBT students, non-LGBT students are also welcome to apply. Qualifications include demonstrated leadership, involvement in the LGBT community and financial or emotional need.

In addition, mtvU announced a partnership with Billboard magazine in creating the “Student Voice Contest” for aspiring music journalists. College student applicants must respond to three music-related questions, which are judged by Tamara Conniff, co-executive editor of Billboard magazine, and Christina Norman, president of MTV Networks. Prizes include a one-year subscription to Billboard magazine and the chance to have articles published on mtvU.com and Billboard.com as well as in a new monthly column featured in the magazine.

“MtvU was designed as a platform where college students can have their talents and accomplishments recognized on a national level, and we’re excited to extend that platform all the way into one of the world’s premier music publications,” Friedman said. “College students are prophesying the future of music today, and through this partnership with Billboard, we’ll be able to help unearth and cultivate some of tomorrow’s top music writers.”

Students interested in the mtvU/Point Scholarship can find more information at thepointfoundation.org/apply.html. Applications for the Student Voice Contest can be found at mtvU.com.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 14th, 2006 at 6:41 am and is filed under Scholarship. Tags: College, Education, Scholarship, Student. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.