Ariana Glaser is SPJ Florida’s 2025 Scholarship Winner

The SPJ Florida Scholarships and Grant Committee is proud to award this year’s college scholarship to Ariana Glaser, a rising sophomore at the University of Miami.

Originally from New York, Glaser shared her experience of being ridiculed and questioned after coming forward about a sexual assault — this only motivated her to explore journalism to become a voice for the voiceless.

“It was what I was put on Earth to do — to use my pen to uplift the voices that might otherwise go unheard,” she wrote in her application. “I’ll never be able to undo what’s happened to me, and I’ll never be able to stop bad things from happening to other people, but if nothing else, I believe I have the power to make sure their stories don’t go untold.”

Her portfolio includes writing for Newsday, BroadwayWorld, and publications at the University of Miami, including the LGBTQ Center’s Pride Press. She is the founder of the blog “Her Voice” and also a novelist and songwriter. In light of her assault being publicized, she wrote an essay “exploring how institutional and legal failures have enabled sexual abuse in medicine.

“When I was assaulted, media outlets all reached out to the doctor for comment — no one asked me to share my side of the story. With my piece, I’ve given survivors the opportunity to finally speak their truths.”

A teacher wrote in their letter of recommendation, “You cannot teach the confidence she conveys in her writing and on air, you can not lecture in the craft of thinking quickly on your feet in an interview, but these are skills Ariana expresses with ease.”

The committee is moved by Glaser’s tenacity and looks forward to her future in journalism and storytelling.