JPR&NM Students Benefit from New Endowed Scholarships

Baylor alumna Ella Prichard established a Lariat newspaper editor-endowed scholarship this spring. The Lariat Editor will receive $6,000 each semester thanks to her generosity. Prichard (Ella Gayle Wall) was born in New Orleans and grew up in Texarkana, Arkansas, where her father worked for the Texas & Pacific Railroad.

With the help of scholarships and campus jobs, Prichard could attend Baylor, where she majored in history and minored in journalism,  enrolling in 1959 She served as editor of The Baylor Lariat in 1962, and graduated from Baylor University in 1963.She had hoped to become a journalist but abandoned those plans when she met Lev as a summer intern reporter at the Corpus Christi Caller-Times in 1962.

Over the years, Prichard has found many ways to share her talent through church and community service: writing the Sunday School curriculum for the Southern Baptist Convention Sunday School Board (now LifeWay) and writing, editing, and producing promotional materials for for-profit and nonprofit campaigns. Prichard remains active in the lives of her family, church, and community, with homes in Corpus Christi and Dallas, where she continues to support religious, cultural, and educational nonprofits that reflect her values and enhance the lives of those they serve.

A $10,000 financial gift was donated on behalf of Oscar Hoffmeyer, a 1956 journalism graduate of Baylor University. As a tribute to Oscar, his wife, Chris, wished to bestow a financial gift to Baylor JPR&NM for a worthy cause in his name. Hoffmeyer passed away on May 10, 2024, at 98. Her sons, Mike (Baylor 1971-1974), Randy (Baylor 1973 - 1977), and Tim (Baylor 1977), carried out their mother's wishes by contributing to Prichard’s Lariat student editor scholarship fund. 

Hoffmeyer's involvement in Baptist denominational organizations unfolded chronologically: From 1959 to 1966, he was the Director of Public Relations at the Missouri Baptist Children's Home in St. Louis. He then transitioned to Professor of Journalism at Louisiana College in Pineville, LA, from 1966 to 1969. Subsequently, from 1969 to 1974, he served as a Professor of Journalism and Faculty Adviser of the Lariat at Baylor University. 

Continuing his career, around 1974 to 1980, he assumed the position of Associate Editor of the Baptist Message. Later, from 1980 to about 1989, he held the esteemed role of Public Relations Director of the Louisiana Baptist Convention until his retirement. After retirement, Oscar and Chris relocated to Waco, Texas, and became Lifetime Members of the Baylor Bear Foundation, maintaining their unwavering support of Baylor. Oscar passed away on July 28, 2012, at 88.