Little Neck Hofstra Students Wins Fox News Award

A Hofstra University student from Little Neck who recently received the Gracie Award has now won the Fox News Channel’s College Challenge.

Shannan Ferry, a junior journalism major at Hofstra, was one of three winners in Fox News’s competition. On Monday morning, she appeared on “Fox and Friends,” where she was presented with a $10,000 scholarship that she will split with the contest’s other two winners.

Hofstra’s School of Communication also received a $10,000 award towards scholarships, grants or new equipment.

Fox News’s contest required applicants to create a fair and balanced video news package examining a current issue.

Ferry’s project focused on a movement to ban horse carriages from New York City streets. She acted as on-air reporter, interviewing carriage drivers, tourists, movement organizers and elected officials. Ferry will be eligible for a summer internship at the news station.

In March, Ferry won the Gracie Award, which honors women in television, radio and online media, in the student radio market category for her work on a segment titled “Female Genital Mutilation: A Victim Speaks Out,” which aired last year on WRHU 88.7 FM.

Ferry, who is the station manager at the radio station, interviewed a 21-year-old who moved to the United States from Gambia to escape the cultural practice of female genital mutilation.