Criteria

This scholarship shall be awarded to an undergraduate student who matches the following criteria:

  • Majoring in, or with the intent to major in Communications.
  • Actively participating in various extracurricular activities within the Murrow College.

History

Virginia (Gin) graduated from Washington State University in 1974, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications. Since 1986 she has owned her own strategic marketing firm, McCarty & Associates “a marketing firm,” located in Shelton, WA, which serves the entire Puget Sound area. She has won many state and national awards for her work.

As a student at WSU, Gin worked for KWSU radio and television as an announcer, producer, and writer and worked in promoting KWSU radio programs. While at WSU, she was an active leader in her living group, was a member of the PRSA and Women in Communications. Her senior year she was selected to receive the Judith Waller Award – which goes to the most outstanding woman in communications. Upon graduation, she went to work for WSU’s Athletic Department as Assistant Sports Information Director. She later worked in Los Angeles, CA, for Swimming World Magazine and Sunkist Growers, Inc. She is currently an active member of the Professional Advisory Board for The Edward R. Murrow College of Communications.

Mike is a 1975 WSU graduate and most recently retired as the City Administrator for the City of Shelton, a city he served for nearly twenty-one years. Currently, Mike is managing a natural resource conservation organization, working to maintain water quality for future generations and to restore native salmon stocks. He began his career at UCLA, working as a campus recreation coordinator and has also served as the controller of a large specialty plywood manufacturing facility. Mike also holds an MBA from the University of Puget Sound.

The McCarty’s are Life Members of the WSU Alumni Association and are active in their local WSU alumni chapter. In addition, they are involved in many local civic organizations and love being Cougars. They have two children, Anthony and Meredith Ann.