Science, technology, engineering and mathematics— and athletics. That’s how ten female student-athletes walked away with $4,000 scholarships after a luncheon at the University of North Florida.
UNF Athletics partnered with JEA to support the increased involvement of female student-athletes in STEM. Their inaugural scholarship luncheon was Sept. 17 at the Adam W. Herbert University Center.
UNF students Emma Milson, Presley Murray, Ashley Connor, Madison Espy, Sophia Hayag, Aydan Horrigan, Ashley Kephart, Jasmine Makela, Hayden Wooldridge and Isabella Giresi were among the scholarship winners. The ten winners are all UNF student-athletes pursuing STEM degrees.
Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan, UNF President Moez Limayem and JEA Chief Operating Officer Raynetta Curry Marshall attended the event.
Mia O’Brien, the on-air host and director of multimedia production at 1010XL, served as emcee. Donna Orender, founder of Generation W, a nonprofit organization advocating for the empowerment of women and girls, was the event’s keynote speaker.
After the event, Spinnaker spoke with O’Brien, who sees great value in highlighting women’s accomplishments.
“Supporting women is about celebrating women and the accomplishments they have,” O’Brien said. “It’s about recognizing those wins and how those other wins can come from it.”
Orender also expressed the importance of supporting female STEM students and their accomplishments.
“These are our leaders of tomorrow,” Orender said. ”These are women who will step into the important and necessary industries that will continue to build our communities and our nation.”
Spinnaker also spoke with Karen McAllister, JEA’s public information officer, to learn more about the collaboration with UNF Athletics.
The luncheon was not the first time JEA and UNF have worked together. In 2023, JEA announced a five-year financial commitment to UNF to fund its Sustainable Solutions Lab, where students can learn about and conduct research on renewable energy technologies and practices.
McAllister was optimistic about the potential for JEA to sponsor more scholarship events in the future.
“Yeah, we can certainly say we’re pursuing that. We’re always looking for creative ways to support students and collaborate with UNF,” said McAllister.
Women in STEM and athletics can apply to win one of next year’s scholarships at unf.academicworks.com.
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