by Pete Rosenbery<\/p>\n
CARBONDALE, Ill. \u2014 For Southern Illinois University Carbondale photojournalism student Emily Sunblade, the news that she is the first scholarship recipient of an award in memory of a friend is bittersweet.<\/p>\n
Sunblade is the inaugural recipient of the Ryan Rendleman Photojournalism Scholarship. The 22-year-old senior from Bolingbrook, who has a double major in photojournalism and history, will be awarded the $1,000 scholarship during the School of Journalism\u2019s annual awards banquet Thursday, April 23, at 6 p.m., at Blue Sky Vineyards in Makanda.<\/p>\n
More than 30 scholarships worth more $23,000, along with several recognition awards, will be presented. Members of Rendleman\u2019s family will be present at the awards banquet.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me it\u2019s very personal. I was friends with Ryan,\u201d Sunblade said. \u201cIt\u2019s bittersweet. It\u2019s great to get the award but in hindsight, I wish the award didn\u2019t exist.\u201d<\/p>\n
The endowed scholarship honors Rendleman, a 22-year-old senior from Batavia, who died a year ago in a traffic accident while en route to an assignment for The Daily Egyptian student newspaper. Family, friends and faculty members within the journalism school then set up the endowed scholarship through donations and fundraising efforts.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are honored by the scholarship endowed in Ryan\u2019s name, and it\u2019s things like these that have comforted us,\u201d said Nick Rendleman, Ryan\u2019s older brother. \u201cWe are looking forward to a new student every year being introduced to his legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n
The scholarship \u201cwill be a reminder every spring of Ryan and how much he meant to all of us,\u201d said William H. Freivogel, director of the School of Journalism.<\/p>\n
Sunblade is one of the most promising among a group of promising photojournalists within the school, Freivogel said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a lot of ways she embodies what a lot of us saw in Ryan. She is active in multi-media and new media styles of reporting,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cRyan touched the lives of many during his life, I am delighted that his influence on photojournalism students will continue through this scholarship,\u201d said William Recktenwald, a senior lecturer and journalist-in-residence, and one of Rendleman\u2019s instructors.<\/p>\n
\u201cEmily Sunblade is a talented photographer and excellent student, she was also a close friend of Ryan,\u201d Recktenwald said. \u201cI know that she will find a special significance in being the first recipient of this award.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sunblade, the daughter of Richard and Dianna Sunblade, graduates in December. With her background in history and photography, Sunblade has done some past work with the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service. She will intern this summer with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service\u2019s Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, working in the visitor\u2019s center, where she will create programs and brochures. The 1.92-million acre refuge is on the southwestern side of Alaska, about one hour south of Anchorage.<\/p>\n
Sunblade has worked at The Daily Egyptian since the spring 2008 semester, where she and Rendleman became friends. She gives him credit for helping her think of a photo as more than just a picture, and recalls his ever-present optimism prior to going out on assignment.<\/p>\n
She said she often asks herself how Rendleman would have likely approached an assignment before she leaves on a photo shoot.<\/p>\n
\u201cRyan was very much about making the photo a story and not just something to fill space,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The crash occurred less than two weeks before Rendleman was to earn his bachelor\u2019s degree. Family members accepted Rendleman\u2019s diploma posthumously during commencement ceremonies. The family has set up a Web site in Rendleman\u2019s memory at ryanrendleman.org\/ that will be active May 24.<\/p>\n
Last month, Rendleman was enshrined in the Newseum\u2019s Freedom Forum Journalists Memorial in the Newseum in Washington, D.C. He is among 1,913 reporters, photographers and broadcasters who have died while reporting the news dating back to 1837, and is the first collegiate journalist from the United States on the memorial.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Pete Rosenbery CARBONDALE, Ill. \u2014 For Southern Illinois University Carbondale photojournalism student Emily Sunblade, the news that she is the first scholarship recipient of an award in memory of a friend is bittersweet. Sunblade is the inaugural recipient of the Ryan Rendleman Photojournalism Scholarship. The 22-year-old senior from Bolingbrook, who has a double major … Continue reading Sunblade wins inaugural Rendleman scholarship<\/span>