Ethan Kibbe was named one of this year’s recipients of the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation scholarship.
Every year, the foundation coordinates a nationwide sports essay competition for journalism students from over 32 universities. To compete, students must be either a second or third year undergraduate in their school’s journalism program with at least a 3.0 GPA. Essays must be between 750 to 1,000 words on a pre-selected topic.
This year’s topic was to write about someone or something important to the sports culture at the university. Kibbe immediately thought of former professor, Paul Wieland, who has been a role model of his since he had him as a professor.
“Paul is a Bona grad,” said Kibbe, a senior journalism and mass communications major. “He was the PR director for the Buffalo Sabres. He coached the SBU hockey team until he couldn’t anymore. He also got his hands on the sports truck that we use for SBU-TV sports. He made it possible for alumni to watch sports games.”
Kibbe said Wieland was the ideal person to write about for the topic.
“He’s done so much,” said Kibbe. “He is someone I really admire, not just as a journalist, but as a person. He is someone I strive to be like as a writer, as a storyteller and a quality individual. To capture that isn’t easy. To write a special story you need a special subject.”
Although Wieland nominated Kibbe and was the subject of his essay, Kibbe didn’t show him the essay until it was submitted to California, where the essays are judged.
“I didn’t want him to see,” Kibbe said. “I didn’t think I did it justice. How do you capture Paul in 1,000 words?”
Each essay is pre-screened by the university’s journalism department, followed by being judged by a panel of national writers in California.
A few professors in the Jandoli School of Communication helped Kibbe edit and rework his essay before sending it to be judged. This included journalism and mass communication professors Denny Wilkins, Ph.D., and Rich Lee, Ph.D, director of the integrated marketing communications graduate program.
Kibbe’s sister, Amelia Kibbe, ’17 , was also a huge driving force and mentor throughout the process.
Amelia, a graduate of the Jandoli School, was awarded the scholarship in 2016. His sister winning made him want to enter an essay even more.
“Seeing what a great time she had made me want it more,” said Kibbe. “It’s an honor to follow in her footsteps, not on the same level as she is in any means, but maybe not too far off. She’s my editor, mentor and my absolute driving force when it comes to journalism. It’s really a tribute to her more than anything. I always say she won once as a writer and once as an editor.”
Kibbe said he could have never gotten to this point without the help of people around him.
“My parents have always been incredibly supportive, academically and socially,” said Kibbe. “They have played a huge role in my education and beyond. Just about everything I write goes to Amelia to make sure it doesn’t sound stupid. Every single professor I have taken a class from, even those that aren’t journalism. I haven’t taken a class that hasn’t prepared me for something in life.”
After graduation, Kibbe ideally wants to go into sports broadcasting, but is also interested in news broadcasting or writing.
Kibbe will travel to Arcadia, California on Sept. 30 to receive the $5,000 award as one of the five Murray Scholars selected through the foundation’s annual nationwide essay contest. To read Kibbe’s winning essay, click here.
engjg14@bonaventure.edu
