Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication
Jean Fannin McGuire Memorial Scholarship Endowment
Jean Fannin McGuire Memorial Scholarship Endowment
Learn more about your impact
Jean Fannin McGuire was passionate in her support of community colleges. She graduated from Howard County Community College in Big Spring, Texas and then graduated from the Journalism Department of Texas Tech University.
Jean worked in Big Spring libraries for a while until she uncovered her true calling--- journalism. Jean passionately believed that without Howard County Community she might never have been able to afford college and that her journalism dream may have been unfulfilled. Jean interned at the Corpus Christi Caller Times, worked as a reporter and City Editor of the Big Spring Herald and worked at the Ypsilanti Press until she "retired" from the press in 1975 as Assistant Managing Editor when she married the then-Managing Editor of the Press, Tim J. McGuire. She was an active supporter and wise muse for Tim as he edited papers in Corpus Christi, TX, Lakeland, FL and Minneapolis, MN.
Jean genuinely believed news organizations made the world better and she was deeply proud she and her family spent her life trying to improve journalism. Her community college education was the underpinning of that.
Impact of donor support
- The Cronkite School’s “teaching hospital” model of education offers students real-world, hands-on training in a live environment.
- More than 125 students benefited from donor-funded scholarship support during the 2022-2023 academic year.
- Cronkite students have access to 13 full-immersion professional programs that produce news, information and community engagement on critical issues for the state, region and nation.
- In the 2021-2022 academic year, more than 400 students were placed into internships.
- 92% of Cronkite alumni are employed full time.
