KU junior Allison Muzzy nominated for Beinecke Scholarship Program

LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas has nominated Allison Muzzy, a junior from Leavenworth, for the Beinecke Scholarship Program. Each year through the program, the Sperry Fund offers 20 scholarships to undergraduates who intend to pursue a research-focused or fine arts master’s or doctoral program in the arts, humanities or social sciences. Selected students receive $30,000 to be used for graduate study and $5,000 in their senior year. Award recipients will be announced in June.  

Allison Muzzy

KU’s nominee, Allison Muzzy, is the daughter of Patrick and Sheri Muzzy and a graduate of Lansing High School. She is pursuing degrees in political science and journalism & mass communications with a concentration in multimedia journalism. She is also minoring in public policy and East Asian languages & cultures. Upon graduation, Muzzy will pursue a graduate degree in political science, focusing on public policy to venture into a career as a foreign policy analyst. 

Her research interests include media effects theory, public opinion, East Asian policy and journalism. She works in the Department of Communication Studies as an undergraduate research assistant on a project related to local media coverage during the 2024 election. Muzzy also works at Watson Library as a student cataloger. She is a KU Student Ambassador and is a member of the KU Admissions Community Engagement Initiatives Recruitment Team. She previously served on a School of Journalism faculty search committee and the Provost’s Budget and Tuition Student Advisory Committee. Muzzy was a fall 2024 fellow for Loud Light’s Get Out the Vote campaign and a summer 2024 campaign intern with former Kansas State Rep. Christina Haswood. She received the TRIO Scholar Award, Elizabeth Bowen and Carl Frederic Gustafson Award from the Department of Political Science and the Kansan Above and Beyond Award for her reporting for the University Daily Kansan. She is a 2025 Critical Language Scholar for Chinese, a KU Chancellor’s Merit Scholarship recipient, a Foreign Language Area Studies Fellow for Chinese and a member of Phi Kappa Phi. Additionally, Muzzy is a member of the KU Swift Society, Comic Book Club, Asian American Student Union and School of Journalism Diverse Students Association. She also serves on the School of Journalism’s access and belonging committee, is a Mentored Scholars Program participant and is a member of TRIO.

Only 135 colleges and universities across the country are invited to nominate one student for the scholarship each year. KU is the only participating institution in Kansas. 

At KU, the nomination process is coordinated by the Center for Undergraduate Research & Fellowships. The next application cycle will begin in late fall 2025. Interested students should contact the office by email.

The Beinecke Scholarship Program was established in 1971 by the board of directors of the Sperry and Hutchinson Company to honor Edwin, Frederick and Walter Beinecke. The board created an endowment to provide substantial scholarships for the graduate education of young people of exceptional promise. Candidates should be U.S. citizens and college juniors who demonstrate superior standards of intellectual ability, scholastic achievement and personal promise during their undergraduate career.