Five Earn Big Island Press Club Scholarships

Five Big Island students have won scholarships from the Big Island Press Club, totaling $5,600.

The press club annually awards scholarships to students pursuing higher education in journalism or a related field.

The recipients are:

• Tianna Morimoto, a 2015 graduate of Konawaena High School and 2019 graduate of Chapman University with a degree in communication studies with a broadcast journalism minor. Morimoto, who interned at West Hawai‘i Today during the 2018-19 winter break, is pursuing a master’s degree in journalism at the University of Nevada at Reno. Morimoto, a two-time BIPC scholarship winner, is the recipient of the $1,500 Bill Arballo Scholarship.
• Jordan Virtue, a 2016 graduate of Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy and 2020 graduate of Harvard University, where she was on the editorial staff of The Harvard Crimson, the school’s student-run daily newspaper. Virtue, who has published a feature story in the Washington Post about shave ice, is entering the University of Oxford, where she’ll pursue a master’s degree in history. A three-time BIPC scholarship winner, she is the recipient of the $1,000 Marcia Reynolds Scholarship.
• Danielle Brown, a 2017 graduate of Hilo High School, and junior English major at George Fox University, where she is also an intercollegiate tennis player. Brown is a two-time BIPC scholarship winner and the recipient of $1,000 from the combined Bob Miller and Jack Markey scholarships.
• Piper Haitsuka, a 2019 graduate of Makua Lani Christian Academy and sophomore journalism major at California State University-Sacramento. Haitsuka is, for the second consecutive year, the recipient of the $600 Yukino Fukabori Scholarship.
• Ku’uhiapo Jeong, a 2020 graduate of Kamehameha Schools-Hawai‘i Campus, will enter the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo this fall, and has announced his intentions to study communications and psychology. Jeong is the recipient of the $500 Hugh Clark Scholarship.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the BIPC Scholarship awardees this year will be honored via a Zoom online ceremony on Tuesday, July 21 at 6:30 p.m. The featured speaker is the Honorable Mark E. Recktenwald, Chief Justice of the Hawai‘i Supreme Court. A 1978 Harvard University graduate, Recktenwald was a reporter for the United Press International Honolulu Bureau prior to pursuing a law degree, which he received in 1986 from the University of Chicago.

The public can view the scholarship ceremony live via the Big Island Press Club’s public Facebook Page. (Go to @theBigIslandPressClub on Facebook). The ceremony will be archived on the page for later access, as well.