UMD News Releases

Duluth, MN – UMD’s College of Liberal Arts is hosting a reception on Friday, February 7, 2014 to celebrate the Larry Oakes Journalism Scholarship. The event starts at 6 p.m. and will be held at the Kitchi Gammi Club, 831 East Superior Street.

The scholarship will provide the recipient with a $1,200 award to pursue an internship with a Minnesota newspaper. Donations toward the scholarship can be made by calling 218-726-6322 or through its giving page: www.giving.umn.edu/giveto/oakes.

The Larry Oakes Journalism scholarship was established by his family and friends to honor the well-respected journalist known for telling Northern Minnesota’s stories that may have otherwise gone untold. Cheryl Meese, who is hosting the event along with her husband, Joseph, and friends Cynthia and Scott Hedlund, hopes that students make a connection with Oakes through this scholarship, “I just hope that, as the years pass and different students are part of this legacy and have the opportunity to benefit from this honor to his life, I hope they continue to know what a remarkable man and journalist he was. He was a good, good, man.”

Oakes studied journalism at UMD before being hired by the Duluth News Tribune in 1982. Three years later he took a job with the Star Tribune and he started working as the Northern Minnesota correspondent in 1988. During this time Oakes also taught at UMD, leaving an indelible mark on his students, including Chris Godsey, who now teaches at UMD, “I’m conscious of him every time I’m in a classroom. He was that formative to me.”

The scholarship will be awarded annually. More information is available at http://www.d.umn.edu/writ/scholarships.html.