SJMC student Gass-Pooré awarded $1,500 scholarship

We’re proud to announce SJMC’s own Jordan Gass-Pooré has been awarded one of two $1,500 annual scholarships from the Bess Whitehead Scott Scholarship Fund.

23-year-old Gass-Pooré of Sequin says she knew at a young age she wanted to be a journalist. “The moment I laid my hands on a newspaper, and my fingers were stained with black ink . . . I was hooked.”

Gass-Pooré has been a writer and editor for the University Star newspaper and reporter at KTSW radio station. She was also managing editor of the university’s Persona Literary Magazine. Off campus, Gass-Pooré has worked for several publications as a reporter and intern, including the Texas Tribune, Austin American-Statesman and The Austin Chronicle. She wants to practice investigative journalism and eventually live in Spain, writing for bilingual publications.

The scholarships celebrate the legacy of Bess Whitehead Scott, a pioneering woman journalist who lived to be 107 and published her memoir, You Meet Such Interesting People, in her late 90s. Scott worked as a reporter, teacher and in public relations. She was inducted into the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame in 1994.

This year marks 24 years and $53,500 in assistance to individuals studying writing. The BWS Fund is affiliated with the Austin Community Foundation.