Thirteen Daily Texan staffers received cash grant awards totaling $23,500 at the Friends of The Daily Texan, Inc. annual Hall of Fame dinner on April 4 on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin.
Cash awards ranged from $1,000 to $2,500 for the 13 awards.
The Friends of The Daily Texan began awarding the grants in 2018, funding one grant for $1,500.
Since then, with the support of Daily Texan alums, the number of grants have increased in number and value steadily each year.
Over the past 7 years, 49 grants have been awarded totaling $87,750.
If you would like to donate to help the size and number of endowed grants grow, please go here.
The winners of the 2025 awards are listed below.
$1,000 Bill Mintz Outstanding Reporting Award
Diego Hernandez
Diego is a journalism freshman and has already moved up to become a senior news reporter. His reporting is varied, ranging from national to campus events. He says that The Daily Texan has taught him what it’s like to be a journalist at the pace and quality of a real-life newsroom. In his time off, he enjoys drawing and has a YouTube channel where he posts videos of him eating cereal.
$1,000 Middy Randerson Life and Arts Award
Trisha Dasgupta
Trisha junior majoring in journalism and rhetoric and writing, and she’s also a Moody Honors student. Previously the associate editor in Life&Arts, Trisha now heads the projects department after seven semesters. Outside of The Texan, she works for fashion journalist and NYT bestselling author Sarah Chapelle running her social media. Her favorite authors are Joan Didion, Eve Babitz, and Gillian Flynn.
$1,000 Friends of The Texan Award Finalists
Alexa Zimmermann
A studio art and art history senior, Alexa has spent seven semesters in the comics department and currently presides as the comics editor. Alexa is most proud of the work she has done to advocate for her department. She had the opportunity to illustrate multiple stories for the recent elections while working at The Texan, and she loves painting, printmaking and trying new recipes.
$1,000 Friends of The Texan Award Finalists
Tenley Jackson
Graduating in 2026, Tenley is studying Plan II and journalism while leading as an associate opinion editor. She has spent nine semesters at The Texan. She’s also a Terry and Impact Scholar at UT. Tenley is interested in law, working at both the SMU and UT law schools. In her free time, she volunteers in animal rescue and fosters cats and dogs.
$1,500 Jerry and Becky Conn Scholarship Award
Lorianne Willett
Lorianne is in her 10th semester at The Texan, and she’s a journalism senior currently working as an associate photo editor. She’s spent the last two semesters as a Texas Tribune fellow and interned for KUT and Texas Connect magazine. She used to live in Japan, she loves (and misses) her dog, and she was published in TIME’s Top 100 Photos of 2024 for her protest coverage.
$1,500 Faculty Recognition Award
Alyssa Ramos
Alyssa is a journalism senior and the current copy desk chief, and she’s been on staff for 10 semesters. She has previously served as opinion associate editor and Texan en Español translator, among other positions. She plans to go into the journalism or English fields, but if NASA wants her, she would not hesitate to go. In her free time, Alyssa loves reading books, drinking coffee and doting on her friend’s pets.
$1,500 Faculty Recognition Award
Breyona Mitchell
Breyona is an English and studio art senior and has spent 11 semesters at The Texan. She is now serving as the associate comics editor. Makeup art and fashion are big passions outside of drawing and writing. Horror is her favorite fiction genre. She loves growing plants, and she could talk for hours about random, niche topics (from obscure internet drama to niche book lore).
$2,500 Kirk and Vicki Bohls Sports Journalism Award
Meaghan English
Meaghan is the sports desk editor and has been with The Texan for five semesters. She is from Tyler, Texas, and is an avid, and mourning, Dallas fan. She will graduate with her journalism and sports media degree in May 2027. Outside of The Texan, she’s involved with Alpha Xi Delta. The loves of her life are her dog, her not-so-little little sister and a cold Dr Pepper.
$2,500 A. R. “Dick” Elam Award
Kylee Howard
Kylee is a journalism junior from Waco, Texas, also studying history and Spanish. She has been with The Texan for seven semesters now, first in news and projects, then in management. After graduation, Kylee hopes to work as a journalist in Texas covering government and public policy. When not trapped in the basement, Kylee loves walking her dog, Dirk, and catching up with her friends over coffee.
$2,500 S. Griff Singer Award
Athena Tseng
Athena, director of digital strategy, is a journalism major graduating in 2027. Besides her five semesters of work at The Texan, she’s also a marketing and communication intern at UT Computer Science. In her time as newsletter editor, The Texan launched daily newsletters that keep over 35,000 students, faculty and staff informed. In her free time, she likes to bake and go to spin classes.
$2,500 Rene and Jimmy Wisch Award
Maryam Ahmed
After four semesters, journalism sophomore Maryam is currently a news desk editor. While a senior news reporter, she and Naina Srivastava won first place in College Media Association’s Best Coverage of Faith for their reporting shortly after Oct. 7, 2023. In her free time, she likes juggling, doing henna designs and reading. She is interested in both foreign correspondence to the Middle East and investigative reporting.
$2,500 Lynne Dobson and Greg Wooldridge Photojournalism Award
Aaron Sullivan
Aaron is an associate managing editor and has also worked in the photo department in his eight semesters at The Texan. Originally from Bastrop, Texas, Aaron is a junior studying journalism and theater. Aaron enjoys traveling, taking pictures and hanging out with his cat, Magic. This summer, he will travel to Dublin, Ireland, to participate in Moody College’s course on documentary photography.
$2,500 Friends of The Texan Award Winner
Vivien Ayers
Vivien has spent six semesters at The Texan and is the current news editor. She is a journalism and sustainability studies junior from Denton, Texas, who loves reporting on the intersection of the climate with politics and external social influences. Vivien has also reported with the Austin American-Statesman. When not working in the basement, she loves to go axe throwing and read fantasy novels.
