Jul 11 2011

Interior Design Students Win Brendalyn Stempel Scholarship Awards

Pictured from left to right: Martha Siegel, chair of the Department of Interior Design,
Amanda Burke, Brendalyn Stempel, Jessica Slefko, and Robert Allen, associate
professor and interior design coordinator.

Three interior design students - Amanda Burke, Jacquelyn Lagravinese, and Jessica Slefko - achieved recognition in honor of the Brendalyn Stempel 2nd Annual Scholarship Awards presented on June 16 at a luncheon sponsored by the departments of Development and Interior Design. The students earned a total of $15,000 in scholarship money. Luncheon attendees included Brendalyn Stempel, grantor; Laura Schranz, director of corporate, foundation, and government relations; Martha Siegel, chair of the Department of Interior Design; Robert Allen, associate professor and interior design coordinator; and two of the three scholarship recipients (Burke and Slefko attended in person, while Lagravinese appeared via video due to her participation in the interior design summer study abroad program.) The award requires each student to provide Stempel with copies of her senior thesis documentation booklets to be created in the upcoming year.

About the Awards: Brendalyn Stempel, a member of the advisory board of the School of Architecture and Design and an interior designer in her own right, established a yearly scholarship in 2009 for NYIT's interior design students. The merit-based scholarship gives financial support to well-rounded, hardworking students in their senior year. Faculty members and the chair of the Department of Interior Design select award candidates who are then required to present their work to a panel, which includes Ms. Stempel. Recipients must be entering their final year of the interior design program, have achieved a 3.0 GPA or higher, and can be either full- or part-time students.