Media and Communication Honours student Nick Printup of the Department of Communication, Popular Culture and Film is the recipient of the 2020 Lou Cahill Scholarship in Communication, becoming the first Indigenous student to be recognized with this award.<\/p>\n
The $1,250 scholarship is administered by the Canadian Public Relations Society<\/a> (CPRS) Foundation and named for Lou J. Cahill<\/a>, who founded the country\u2019s longest-operating public relations firm, now part of Enterprise Canada.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Lou Cahill Scholarship was established more than a decade ago to honour the work of Canadian public relations pioneer Lou Cahill, who died in 2008 at the age of 94,\u201d said Anita Wasiuta, Board Chair of the CPRS Foundation. \u201cLou continues to be an inspiration to public relations practitioners of all ages and he\u00a0would have been thrilled to see the credentials of this year\u2019s winner, Nicholas Printup, an accomplished student with much to offer the profession.\u201d<\/p>\n The scholarship recognizes an upper-year student in the Business Communication or Media and Communication programs at Brock University who demonstrates a strong commitment to academic excellence, community involvement and participation in charitable activities.<\/p>\n Printup says it is “an honour” to receive the scholarship, noting that the recognition is meaningful in part because \u201cpeople do not engage in academic excellence, community involvement and charitable activities for awards \u2014 the acts themselves are their own reward.\u201d<\/p>\n Printup, who is of Onondaga\/Algonquin descent, serves as a member of the President\u2019s Advisory Committee on Human Rights, Equity and Decolonization (PACHRED), sitting on both the Sexual Violence Prevention and the Decolonization subcommittees, and was awarded the Aboriginal Student Services Aboriginal Achievement Award in 2019.<\/p>\n When he isn\u2019t conducting community workshops through the Student Justice Centre, offering land acknowledgements and traditional Indigenous openings for conferences, or contributing to conference panels and Indigenous studies classes, Printup is pursuing his love of media in many different forms. An author and award-winning filmmaker, he has also won several logo design competitions for Indigenous organizations and was recently named a semi-finalist medal designer for the 2021 Canada Summer Games.<\/p>\n He is currently designing a logo for a new Indigenous children\u2019s mental health program that will operate out of the Niagara Regional Native Friendship Centre.<\/p>\n Ultimately, Printup says his goal is \u201cto utilize his education as an instrument to better his people, his communities and his family.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI have found my lived experience as a young Indigenous man to be valued in a colonial educational institution,\u201d says Printup. \u201cI am able to directly share my culture, customs and lived experiences with my peers, which helps to educate them on Indigenous issues that they otherwise would not be privy to.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPrintup\u2019s academic record and commitment to civic engagement are simply outstanding,\u201d says Associate Professor Russell Johnston of the Department of Communication, Popular Culture and Film. \u201cHis initiative and spirit of co-operation make him an asset to every group he joins.\u201d<\/p>\n Printup is the newest member of a long list of remarkable recipients of this award, which also includes Matthew Scott (BA \u201920) and Stephanie Lasica (BA \u201919).<\/p>\n \u201cBeing recognized with the Lou Cahill Scholarship for Communication has allowed for me to reflect back on all of my experiences throughout university,\u201d says Scott, who received the scholarship in 2019. \u201cIt is a reminder to how important it is to be engaged, not just in the classroom, but in the thriving Greater Niagara community as well.\u201d<\/p>\n As a student, Scott was committed to showcasing both Brock and Niagara through his volunteering and work as a senior producer at BrockTV. Not long before graduating, he came in first place at the 24-Hour Film Festival hosted by the CPCF Student Society.<\/p>\n Lasica, the 2018 recipient, was also named Brock\u2019s first Experiential Education Student of the Year before going on to pursue a graduate certificate in public relations at Humber College. She describes the scholarship as a great honour.<\/p>\n \u201cThe award acknowledged my academic achievements and community involvement while supporting my goal to become a successful leader in the Canadian communications industry,\u201d she says, adding that she hopes in the future \u201cto motivate, inspire and provide mentorship to future students looking to apply to the scholarship program.\u201d<\/p>\n