INDIANAPOLIS --- Ana Sebescen, a tennis student-athlete at Coppin State University, is the recipient of the 2010 Jim McKay Scholarship award, which is presented annually to a student-athlete who has excelled academically and plans to pursue postgraduate studies in the communications field.

The Jim McKay Scholarship program was established in 2008 to recognize the immense contributions and legacy of pioneer sports journalist Jim McKay and to assist former student-athletes who plan to work on a postgraduate degree at an NCAA college or university.

Sebescen will receive a $10,000 scholarship for her postgraduate studies.  Sebescen earned her bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in journalism, and plans to pursue a master’s degree in broadcast journalism.  

Sebescen, who is of Serbian-Hungarian nationality, survived two wars in her native country as a youth.   After seeing her native Serbia destroyed economically, politically and socially, she decided that she wanted to become a journalist in an effort to help instill change.   She credits her tennis skills and a scholarship to Coppin State with giving her a path to realize her dreams.  

Sebescen interned at the Baltimore Examinerwhere she became the first intern to publish twice on the cover page of the newspaper and pioneered the newspaper’s first multimedia article.   She was also the editor-in-chief of the student newspaper at Coppin State, writing various campus stories, including several athletic-related articles.   She also interned at WBAL-TV, was an editor of the online student website, and was a junior reporter for the Coppin State Office of University Relations.

Sebescen would one day like to host an internationally-based sports show that profiles sports heroes who have undergone war traumas, been victims to gender inequalities, and who have overcome major obstacles in life. 

Sebescen is known for her outstanding leadership, strong character and tenacious spirit in competition.  She has also earned several academic honors in her tenure at Coppin State.  She is a member of the Sigma Tau Delta International English Honor Society, was awarded Coppin State’s Academic Ambassador of the Year award, and was a member of the Dean’s list.   She also participated in community service, assisting with book collections that served to increase literacy awareness in Western African countries; reading to elementary students and tutoring high school students; and raising funds to aid victims of child and domestic abuse. 

The Jim McKay Scholarship is open to male and female student-athletes in NCAA Divisions I, II and III.  Eligible recipients must have an overall undergraduate grade-point average of 3.5 or better and must have competed in intercollegiate athletics as a member of a varsity team at an NCAA member institution.  Scholarships can be presented to either a male or female student-athlete or both in a given year.