BOSTON (WSVN) — 7News owner Ed Ansin is funding scholarships at Boston’s Emerson College in the name of an alum who fought for civil rights, and he said it’s a legacy he hopes to pass on to a new generation.
In the Emerson College conference room, high above the city, Friday, the memory of Art Teitelbaum, a towering figure in the fight for civil rights, is being kept alive.
Teitelbaum, an Emerson graduate, was the voice of the Anti-Defamation League in South Florida for years. When he passed away last November at the age of 77, Ansin chose to create a scholarship for Emerson journalism students with financial need in the name of his longtime friend.
“He was renowned in South Florida, particularly back in the 60s and 70s, for exposing hate groups, the Ku Klux Klan,” said Ansin.
Emerson College President Lee Felton praised Ansin’s gift as a great way to support students who have a social conscience. “We believe that civic engagement is key, and we want our students to be great citizens,” said Felton, “and so this scholarship allows us to move forward.”
Ansin got to share time with the two students receiving scholarships, Celia Carbone and Ross Christaniello.
“I’m really honored and humbled to have this scholarship in memory of such a distinguished alumni,” said Carbone, “because it shows that Emerson sees potential in you to get to that point, to be such a prominent figure in journalism.”
“There’s definitely room in journalism for more heart in journalism today,” said Christaniello, “and that’s something that Teitelbaum saw.”
When asked whether there are Emerson students with the potential to follow in Teitelbaum’s footsteps. Ansin replied, “Times have changed, but certainly future Art Teitelbaums, in the sense of his dedication and passion for what he was doing, absolutely.”
Ansin, a Massachusetts native, has made prior donations to Emerson College. He gave $1 million toward a building that bears his name, as well as $250,000 to establish the Ansin Diversity Scholarship.
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