Paul B. Montana Legacy Scholarship
Children and grandchildren of Utica University public relations, journalism, marketing and communications graduates are eligible to apply for a “Paul B. Montana Legacy Scholarship” offered through the Raymond Simon Institute for Public Relations and Journalism.Each scholarship is worth $1,000 per year. Students must be matriculated in one of the college’s public relations, journalism or communications programs and remain in that program, in good standing (C+ average and above), for four years. Transfer students are also eligible, with the duration of the award being up to three years.
The Legacy Scholarship was established in 2018 under the leadership of then-RSI Chair Paul Montana, Class of 1970, and renamed in his honor by the RSI Advisory Committee in 2022. Montana – an accomplished businessman, community leader and author – had served as Utica College’s assistant director of admissions and director of alumni relations. In 2018, he received the college’s prestigious Key Award for his many contributions to Utica, including his longtime and influential role within RSI. He died in 2020 after a courageous battle with cancer.
At the time that the new Legacy Scholarship was announced, Montana said: “Utica (University) graduates are among the elite in the public relations, journalism and marketing professions across the country and throughout the world. This unique scholarship opportunity is a way to recognize them by supporting their own families’ educational pursuits and to promote the college’s first-class communications programs.”
RSI was launched in 1986 to promote and support Utica’s nationally recognized and diverse array of communications degree programs. The Montana Legacy Scholarships are now among the thousands of dollars in financial awards given by RSI each to deserving students in the university’s public relations and journalism programs within the Communication & Media degree program and the public relations major in the college’s School of Business.
A committee of the RSI Advisory Board, composed of Utica University graduates who have achieved professional success in the communications field, selects the awardees based on criteria established by the full board and the RSI executive director, Patricia Swann. For more information or to apply contact Swann at pswann@utica.edu.