John Fischetti was a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist
whose work for many years graced the pages of the New York Herald
Tribune, the Chicago Daily News and the Chicago Sun-Times. He
also was a man whose enthusiasm for life and generosity of spirit
won for him countless friends.
Shortly after John's death in 1980, those friends gathered to
consider a fitting memorial to the man who had so enriched their
lives and his profession. They decided to create the Fischetti
Endowment at Columbia College Chicago. To date, the endowment
has funded scholarships to nearly 400 Columbia journalism students,
as well as monetary awards to 36 outstanding editorial cartoonists
via the annual Fischetti Editorial Cartoon Competition Awards.
For 23 years, the college has sponsored an annual event to honor
the memory of John Fischetti. We invite supporters of the endowment
to be our guests, but we ask them to contribute what they can
to the Fischetti Endowment Scholarship Fund.
With government aid declining to an all-time low, this fund for
worthy journalism students serves a more necessary purpose than
ever before. The results are self-evident: Fischetti alumni are
working in the most important media in the country. In one recent
year, three Fischetti scholars won the prestigious Peter Lisagor
Award for outstanding journalism.